God is good, and beautiful, and blessed, and that in the best and most beautiful degree. [13][14], Celsus writes that "there is an ancient doctrine [archaios logos] which has existed from the beginning, which has always been maintained by the wisest nations and cities and wise men". Celsus also urges us to "take office in the government of the country, if that is required for the maintenance of the laws and the support of religion." Celsus divided the work into two sections, the one in which objections are put in the mouth of a Jewish interlocutor and the other in which Celsus speaks as the pagan philosopher that he is. It was said that Jesus was born to a virgin and God himself. Celsus wrote his work True Discourse(or, True Reason) as a polemic against the Christians in approximately 178 CE. However, few are aware that extrabiblical texts also cite a supernatural aspect of Jesus’ ministry. "[25] Celsus shows himself familiar with the story of Jewish origins. Jesus claims to be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. A Discourse Against the Christians | Celsus, R. Joseph Hoffman (transl.) We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army--an army of piety--by offering our prayers to God. Let us next notice the statements of Celsus, which follow the preceding, and which are as follow: "As the Jews, then, became a peculiar people, and enacted laws in keeping with the customs of their country, and maintain them up to the present time, and observe a mode of worship which, whatever be its nature, is yet derived from their fathers, they act in these respects like other men, because each nation retains its ancestral customs, whatever they are, if they happen to be established among them. Celsus's work may be divided as follows: a preface, an attack on Christianity from the point of view of Judaism, an attack on Christianity from the point of view of philosophy, a refutation of Christian teachings in detail, and an appeal to Christians to adopt paganism. [6], Celsus was the author of a work titled On The True Doctrine (Logos Alēthēs). Celsus anticipated the objections that have been raised by modern rationalists and evolutionists. v. N. Brox, K. Niederwimmer, H. E. Lona, F. R. Prostmeier, J. Ulrich. And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the apostle, "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority;" and the more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. 1), hrsg. But let us look at what Celsus next with great ostentation announces in the following fashion: "And again," he says, "let us resume the subject from the beginning, with a larger array of proofs. Let us now see on what grounds Celsus urges us to make use of the idol offerings and the public sacrifices in the public feasts. CELSUS (c. A.D. 178), an eclectic Platonist and opponent of Christianity known mainly through the reputation of his work, The True Word (or Account; aX r1Ot s Xh yos), brought to light in 248 by Origen who in his Against Celsus quotes, paraphrases and reproduces about nine-tenths of it. Those who are ambitious of ruling we reject; but we constrain those who, through excess of modesty, are not easily induced to take a public charge in the Church of God. Celsus’s most famous literary work The True Word is now lost. Celsus had warned that Christianity itself was drawing people away from traditional religion and claimed that its growth would lead to a collapse of traditional, conservative values. And none fight better for the king than we do. Celsus Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary , the most advanced Bible dictionary. The Christians viewed these as idolatrous and inspired by evil spirits, whereas polytheists like Celsus thought of them as the works of the Daemons, or the god's ministers, who ruled mankind in his place to keep him from the pollution of mortality. Information on Celsus. [29] As for their opinions regarding their sacred mission and exclusive holiness, Celsus responds by deriding their insignificance, comparing them to a swarm of bats, or ants creeping out of their nest, or frogs holding a symposium round a swamp, or worms in conventicle in a corner of the mud. Are aware that extrabiblical texts also cite a supernatural aspect of Jesus’.! 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