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006 - Chapters 41-50 · Against Celsus Book 1

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Speaker 1: Chapters forty one through fifty of against Celsus by origin
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Speaker 1: this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. But that
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Speaker 1: we may not have the appearance of intentionally passing by
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Speaker 1: his charges through inability to refute them, we have resolved
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Speaker 1: to answer each one of them separately according to our ability,
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Speaker 1: attending not to the connection and sequence of the nature
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Speaker 1: of the things themselves, but to the arrangement of the
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Speaker 1: subjects as they occur in his book. Let us therefore
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Speaker 1: notice what he has to say by way of impugning
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Speaker 1: the bodily appearance of the Holy Spirit to our Savior
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Speaker 1: in the form of a dove. And it is a
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Speaker 1: Jew who addresses the following language to him whom we
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Speaker 1: acknowledged be our Lord Jesus. Quote when you are bathing,
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Speaker 1: says the Jew beside John, you say that what had
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Speaker 1: the appearance of a bird from the air alighted upon you?
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Speaker 1: End quote? And then the same Jew, of his, continuing
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Speaker 1: his interrogations, asks quote, what credible witness beheld this appearance?
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Speaker 1: Or who heard a voice from heaven declaring you to
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Speaker 1: be the son of God? What proof is there of it?
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Speaker 1: Save your own assertion and the statement of another of
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Speaker 1: those individuals who have been punished along with you end quote.
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Speaker 1: Before we begin our reply, we have to remark that
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Speaker 1: the endeavor to show, with regard to almost any history,
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Speaker 1: however true, that it actually occurred, and to produce an
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Speaker 1: intelligent conception regarding it, is one of the most difficult
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Speaker 1: undertakings that can be attempted, and is in some instances
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Speaker 1: an impossibility. For suppose that some one were to assert
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Speaker 1: that there never had been any Trojan war, chiefly on
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Speaker 1: account of the impossible narrative interwoven therewith about a certain
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Speaker 1: Achilles being the son of a sea goddess, Thetus, and
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Speaker 1: of a man Pelaeus or a Sarpadon being the son
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Speaker 1: of Zeus or Ascalaphus, and Ialminous the sons of Ares
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Speaker 1: or a Naeus that of Aphrodite. How should we prove
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Speaker 1: that such was the case, especially under the weight of
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Speaker 1: the fiction attached, I know not how to the universally
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Speaker 1: prevalent opinion that there was really a war in Ilium
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Speaker 1: between Greeks and Trojans. And suppose also that someone disbelieved
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Speaker 1: the story of Odipus and Jocasta and of their two
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Speaker 1: sons Eteocles and Polyneses, because the Sphinx, a kind of
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Speaker 1: half virgin, was introduced into the narrative, How should we
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Speaker 1: demonstrate the reality of such a thing? And in like
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Speaker 1: manner also with the history of the Epigone, although there
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Speaker 1: is no such marvelous event interwoven with it, or with
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Speaker 1: the return of the Heraclide or countless other historical events.
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Speaker 1: But he who deals candidly with histories, and would wish
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Speaker 1: to keep himself also from being imposed upon by them,
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Speaker 1: will exercise his judgment as to what statements he will
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Speaker 1: give his assent to, and what he want will accept figuratively,
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Speaker 1: seeking to discover the meaning of the authors of such inventions,
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Speaker 1: and from what statements he will withhold his belief as
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Speaker 1: having been written for the gratification of certain individuals. And
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Speaker 1: we have said this by way of anticipation respecting the
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Speaker 1: whole history related in the Gospels concerning Jesus, not as
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Speaker 1: inviting men of acuteness to a simple and unreasoning faith,
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Speaker 1: but wishing to show that there is need of candor
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Speaker 1: in those who are to read, and of much investigation,
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Speaker 1: and so to speak, of insight into the meaning of
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Speaker 1: the writers, that the object with which each event has
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Speaker 1: been recorded may be discovered. We shall therefore say in
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Speaker 1: the first place, that if he who disbelieves the appearance
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Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove
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Speaker 1: had been described as an epicurean, or a follower of Democritus,
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Speaker 1: or a parapatetic, this statement would have been in keeping
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Speaker 1: with the character of such an objector. But now even
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Speaker 1: the Celsus wisest of all men, did not perceive that
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Speaker 1: it is to a Jew who believes more incredible things
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Speaker 1: contained in the writings of the prophets than the narrative
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Speaker 1: of the appearance of the dove, that he attributes such
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Speaker 1: an objection. For one might say to the Jew, when
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Speaker 1: expressing his disbelief of the appearance, and thinking to assail
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Speaker 1: it as a fiction, quote, how are you able to prove, sir,
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Speaker 1: that the Lord speak to Adam or to Eve, or
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Speaker 1: to Cain, or to Noah, or to Abraham, or to
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Speaker 1: Isaac or to Jacob, these words which he is recorded
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Speaker 1: to have spoken to these men? End quote? And to
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Speaker 1: compare history with history, I would say to the Jew, quote,
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Speaker 1: even your own Ezekiel writes saying that heavens were opened,
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Speaker 1: and I saw a vision of God, after relating which
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Speaker 1: he adds, this was the appearance of the likeness of
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Speaker 1: the glory of the Lord. And he said to me
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Speaker 1: end quote, et cetera. Now, if what is related of
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Speaker 1: Jesus be false, since we cannot, as you suppose, clearly
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Speaker 1: prove it to be true it being seen or heard
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Speaker 1: by himself alone, and as you appeared to have observed
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Speaker 1: also by one of those who were punished, why should
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Speaker 1: we not rather say that Ezekiel also was dealing in
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Speaker 1: the marvelous when he said, quote the heavens were opened
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Speaker 1: end quote, et cetera. Nay, even Isaiah asserts, quote I
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Speaker 1: saw the Lord of Hosts sitting on a throne high
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Speaker 1: and lifted up, and the seraphim stood round about it.
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Speaker 1: The one had six wings and the other had six
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Speaker 1: wings end quote. How can we tell whether he really
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Speaker 1: saw them or not? Now, o jew, you have believed
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Speaker 1: these visions to be true, and to have been not
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Speaker 1: only shown to the prophet by a diviner spirit, but
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Speaker 1: also to have been both spoken and recorded by the same.
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Speaker 1: And who is the more worthy of belief? When declaring
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Speaker 1: that the heavens were opened before him, and that he
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Speaker 1: heard a voice or beheld the Lord of Sabbath, sitting
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Speaker 1: upon a throne high and lifted up, Whether Isaiah and
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Speaker 1: Ezekiel or Jesus of the former, indeed, no work has
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Speaker 1: been found equal to those of the latter. Whereas the
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Speaker 1: good deeds of Jesus have not been confined solely to
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Speaker 1: the period of his tabernacling in the flesh, but up
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Speaker 1: to the present time his power still produces conversion and
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Speaker 1: amelioration of life in those who believe in God through him.
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Speaker 1: And a manifest proof that these things are done by
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Speaker 1: his power is the fact that, although as he himself said,
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Speaker 1: and as is admitted, there are not labors enough to
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Speaker 1: gather in the harvest of souls, there really is nevertheless
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Speaker 1: such a great harvest of those who are gathered together
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Speaker 1: and conveyed into the everywhere existing threshing floors and churches
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Speaker 1: of God. And with these arguments I answer the Jew,
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Speaker 1: not disbelieving I, who am a Christian, is equal and Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: but being very desirous to show, on the footing of
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Speaker 1: our common belief, that this man is far more worthy
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Speaker 1: of credit than they are. When he says that he
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Speaker 1: beheld such a sight, and as is probable related to
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Speaker 1: his disciples the vision which he saw, and told them
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Speaker 1: of the voice which he heard. But another party might
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Speaker 1: object that not all those who have narrated the appearance
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Speaker 1: of the dove and the voice from heaven heard the
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Speaker 1: accounts of these things from Jesus, but that the spirit
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Speaker 1: which taught Moses the history of events before his own time,
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Speaker 1: beginning with the creation and descending down to Abraham his father,
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Speaker 1: taught also the writers of the Gospel the miraculous occurrences
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Speaker 1: which took place at the time of Jesus's baptism. And
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Speaker 1: he who is adorned with the spiritual gift called the
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Speaker 1: Word of Wisdom, will explain also the reason of the
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Speaker 1: heaven's opening and the dove appearing, and why the Holy
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Speaker 1: Spirit appeared to Jesus in the form of no other
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Speaker 1: living thing than that of a dove. But our present
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Speaker 1: subject does not require us to explain this, our purpose
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Speaker 1: being to show that Celsus displayed no sound judgment in
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Speaker 1: representing a Jew as disbelieving on such grounds, a fact
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Speaker 1: which has greater probability in its favor than many events
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Speaker 1: in which he firmly reposes confidence. And I remember, on
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Speaker 1: one occasion at a disputation held with certain Jews who
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Speaker 1: were reputed learned men. Having employed the following argument in
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Speaker 1: the presence of many judges, quote, tell me, Sirs, I said,
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Speaker 1: since there are two individuals who have visited the human race,
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Speaker 1: regarding whom are related marvelous work surpassing human power, Moses viz.
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Speaker 1: Your own legislator, who wrote about himself, and Jesus, our teacher,
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Speaker 1: who has left no writings regarding himself, but to whom
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Speaker 1: testimony is borne by the disciples in the gospels. What
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Speaker 1: are the grounds for deciding that Moses is to be
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Speaker 1: believed as speaking the truth, although the Egyptians slander him
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Speaker 1: as a sorcerer and as appearing to have wrought his
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Speaker 1: mighty works by jugglery, while Jesus is not to be
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Speaker 1: believed because you are his accusers. And yet there are
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Speaker 1: nations which bear testimony in favor of both the Jews
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Speaker 1: to Moses and the Christians, who do not deny the
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Speaker 1: prophetic mission of Moses. But proving from that very source
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Speaker 1: the truth of the statement regarding Jesus, except as true
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Speaker 1: the miraculous circumstances related of him by his disciples. Now,
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Speaker 1: if ye ask us for the reasons of our faith
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Speaker 1: in Jesus. Give yours first for believing in Moses, who
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Speaker 1: lived before him, and then we shall give you ours
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Speaker 1: for accepting the latter. But if you drop back and
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Speaker 1: shirk a demonstration, then we, following your own example, decline
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Speaker 1: for the present to offer any demonstration. Likewise, nevertheless, admit
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Speaker 1: that ye have no proof to offer from Moses. And
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Speaker 1: then listen to our defense of Jesus derived from the
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Speaker 1: Law and the Prophets. And now observe what is almost incredible.
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Speaker 1: It is shown from the declarations concerning Jesus contained in
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Speaker 1: the Law and the Prophets that both Moses and the
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Speaker 1: Prophets were truly prophets of God. For the Law and
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Speaker 1: the Prophets are full of marvels similar to those recorded
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Speaker 1: of Jesus at his baptism viz. Regarding the dove and
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Speaker 1: the voice from Heaven. And I think the wonders wrought
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Speaker 1: by Jesus are a proof of the Holy spirits having
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Speaker 1: then appeared in the form of a dove. Although Celsus,
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Speaker 1: from a desire to cast discredit upon them, alleges that
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Speaker 1: he performed only what he had learned among the Egyptians.
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Speaker 1: And I shall refer not only to his miracles, but
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Speaker 1: as is proper, to those also of the apostles of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: for they could not without the help of miracles. And
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Speaker 1: wonders have prevailed on those who heard their new doctrines
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Speaker 1: and new teachings to abandon their natural usages and to
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Speaker 1: accept their instructions, at the danger to themselves, even of death.
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Speaker 1: And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove.
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Speaker 1: They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee
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Speaker 1: certain events according to the will of the Laugousts. And
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Speaker 1: although Celsus or the Jew whom he has introduced may
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Speaker 1: treat with mockery what I am going to say, I
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Speaker 1: shall say it nevertheless, that many have been converted to Christianity,
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Speaker 1: as if against their will, some sort of spirit, having
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Speaker 1: suddenly transformed their minds from a hate of the doctrine
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Speaker 1: to a readiness to die in its defense, and having
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Speaker 1: appeared to them either in a waking vision or a
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Speaker 1: dream of the night. Many such instances have we known, which,
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Speaker 1: if we were to commit to writing, although they were
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Speaker 1: seen and witnessed by ourselves, we should afford great occasion
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Speaker 1: for ridicule to unbelievers, who would imagine that we, like
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Speaker 1: those whom they supposed to have invented such things, had
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Speaker 1: ourselves also done the same. But God is witness of
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Speaker 1: our conscientious desire, not by false statements, but by testimonies
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Speaker 1: of different kinds to establish the divinity of the doctrine
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Speaker 1: of Jesus. And as it is a Jew who is
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Speaker 1: perplexed about the account of the Holy Spirit having descended
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Speaker 1: upon Jesus in the form of a dove, we would
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Speaker 1: say to him, quote, Sir, who is it that says
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Speaker 1: in Isaiah? And now the Lord hath sent me and
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Speaker 1: his spirit endo in which sentence, as the meaning is doubtful, viz.
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Speaker 1: Whether the Father and the Holy Spirit sent Jesus or
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Speaker 1: the Father said both Christ and the Holy Spirit. The
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Speaker 1: latter is correct, for because this Savior was sent afterwards,
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit was sent also that the prediction of
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Speaker 1: the prophet might be fulfilled. And as it was necessary
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Speaker 1: that the fulfillment of the prophecy should be known to posterity,
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Speaker 1: the disciples of Jesus, for that reason committed the result
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Speaker 1: to writing. I would like to say to Celsus, who
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Speaker 1: represents the jew as accepting somehow John as a Baptist
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Speaker 1: who baptized Jesus. That the existence of John the Baptist
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Speaker 1: baptizing for the remission of sins is related by one
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Speaker 1: who lived no great length of time after John and Jesus.
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Speaker 1: For in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities of the Jews,
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Speaker 1: Josephus bears witness to John as having been a Baptist,
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Speaker 1: and as promising purification to those who underwent the right.
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Speaker 1: Now this writer, although not believing in Jesus as the Christ,
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Speaker 1: and seeking after the cause of the fall of Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: and the destruction of the Temple, whereas he ought to
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Speaker 1: have said that the conspiracy against Jesus was the cause
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Speaker 1: of these calamities befalling the people, since they put to
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Speaker 1: death Christ, who was a prophet, says nevertheless, being although
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Speaker 1: against his will, not far from the truth, that these
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Speaker 1: disasters happened to the Jews as a punishment for the
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Speaker 1: death of James, the Just, who was a brother of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: called Christ, the Jews having put him to death, although
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Speaker 1: he was a man most distinguished for his justice. Paul,
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Speaker 1: a genuine disciple of Jesus, says that he regarded this
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Speaker 1: James as a brother of the Lord, not so much
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Speaker 1: on the account of their relationship by blood, or of
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Speaker 1: their being brought up together, as because of his virtue
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Speaker 1: and doctrine. If then he says that it was on
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Speaker 1: account of James that the desolation of Jerusalem was made
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Speaker 1: to overtake the Jews, how should it not be more
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Speaker 1: in accordance with reason to say that it happened on
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Speaker 1: account of the death of Jesus Christ, of whose divinity
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Speaker 1: so many churches are witnesses, composed of those who have
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Speaker 1: been converted from a flood of sins, and who have
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Speaker 1: joined themselves to the life Creator, and who refer all
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Speaker 1: their actions to his good pleasure. Although the Jew then
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Speaker 1: may offer no defense for himself in the instances of
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Speaker 1: Ezekiel and Isaiah, when we compare the opening of the
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Speaker 1: heavens to Jesus and the voice that was heard by him,
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Speaker 1: to the similar cases which we find recorded in Ezekiel
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Speaker 1: and Isaiah, or any other of the prophets, we nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: so far as we can, shall support our position, maintaining
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Speaker 1: that as it is a matter of belief that in
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Speaker 1: a dream impressions have been brought before the minds of many,
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Speaker 1: some relating to divine things, and others to future events
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Speaker 1: of this life. And this either with clearness or in
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Speaker 1: an enigmatic manner of fact, which is manifest to all
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Speaker 1: who accept the doctrine of providence. So how is it
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Speaker 1: absurd to say that the mind which could receive impressions
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Speaker 1: in a dream should be impressed also in a waking vision,
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Speaker 1: for the benefit either of Him on whom the impressions
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Speaker 1: are made, or of those who are to hear the
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Speaker 1: account of them from him. And as in a dream,
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Speaker 1: we fancy that we hear, and that the organs of
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Speaker 1: hearing are actually impressed, and that we see with our eyes,
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Speaker 1: although neither the bodily organs of sight nor hearing are affected.
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Speaker 1: But it is the mind alone which has these sensations.
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Speaker 1: So there is no absurdity in believing that similar things
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Speaker 1: occurred to the prophets, when it is recorded that they
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Speaker 1: witnessed occurrences of a rather wonderful kind, as when they
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Speaker 1: either heard the words of the Lord or beheld the
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Speaker 1: heavens open. For I do not suppose that the visible
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Speaker 1: heaven was actually opened and its physical structure divided, in
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Speaker 1: order that Ezekiel might be able to record such an occurrence,
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Speaker 1: should not, therefore the same be believed of the Savior by
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Speaker 1: every intelligent hearer of the gospels. Although such an occurrence
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Speaker 1: may be a stumbling block to the simple, who in
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Speaker 1: their simplicity would set the whole world in movement and
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Speaker 1: split in sunder the compact and mighty body of the
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Speaker 1: whole heavens, but he who examined such matters more profoundly
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Speaker 1: will say that their being, as the Scripture calls it,
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Speaker 1: a kind of general divine perception, which the blessed man
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Speaker 1: alone knows how to discover. According to the saying of
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Speaker 1: Solomon quote, thou shalt find the knowledge of God end quote.
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Speaker 1: And as there are various forms of this perceptive power,
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Speaker 1: such as the faculty of vision, which can naturally see
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Speaker 1: things that are better than bodies, among which are ranked
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Speaker 1: the Cherubim and Seraphim, and a faculty of hearing, which
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Speaker 1: can perceive voices which have not their being in the air.
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Speaker 1: And a sense of taste, which can make use of
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Speaker 1: living bread that has come down from heaven and that
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Speaker 1: giveth life unto the world. And so also a sense
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Speaker 1: of smelling, which sends such things, as leads Paul to
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Speaker 1: say that he is a sweet savor of Christ unto God,
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Speaker 1: and a sense of touch, by which John says that
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Speaker 1: he handled with his hands the word of life. The
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Speaker 1: blessed prophets, having discovered this divine perception, and seeing and
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Speaker 1: hearing in this divine manner, and tasting likewise and smell,
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Speaker 1: so to speak, with no sensible organs of perception, and
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Speaker 1: laying hold of the laggous by faith, so that a
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Speaker 1: healing effluence from it comes upon them. Saw in this
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Speaker 1: manner what they record as having seen and heard what
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Speaker 1: they say they heard and were affected in a similar
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Speaker 1: manner to what they described when eating the role of
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Speaker 1: a book that was given them. And so also Isaac
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Speaker 1: smelt the savor of his son's divine garments and added
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Speaker 1: to the spiritual blessing these words quote see the savor
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Speaker 1: of my son is as the savor of a full field,
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Speaker 1: which the Lord blessed end quote and similarly to this,
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Speaker 1: and more as a matter to be understood by the
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Speaker 1: mind than to be perceived by the senses. Jesus touched
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Speaker 1: the leper to cleanse him, as I think in a
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Speaker 1: twofold sense, freeing him not only as the multitude heard
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Speaker 1: from the visible leprosy by visible contact, but also from
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Speaker 1: that other leprosy by his truly divine touch. It is
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Speaker 1: in this way accordingly that John testifies when he says, quote,
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Speaker 1: I beheld the Spirit descended from heaven like a dove,
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Speaker 1: and an abode upon him. And I knew him not.
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Speaker 1: But he that sent me to baptize with water, the
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Speaker 1: same said to me upon whom you will see the
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Speaker 1: Spirit descending and abiding on him. The same is he
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Speaker 1: that baptize it with the Holy Ghost. And I saw
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Speaker 1: and bear witness that this is the Son of God. End. Quote.
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Speaker 1: Now it was to Jesus that the heavens were opened,
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Speaker 1: and on that occasion no one except John is recorded
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Speaker 1: to have seen them opened. But with respect to this
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Speaker 1: opening of the heavens, the Savior, for telling to his
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Speaker 1: disciples that it would happen and that they would see it, says, verily, verily,
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Speaker 1: I say unto you, ye shall see the heavens open,
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Speaker 1: and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the
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Speaker 1: son of Man. And so Paul was carried away into
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Speaker 1: the Third Heaven, having previously seen it open, since he
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Speaker 1: was a disciple of Jesus. It does not, however, belong
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Speaker 1: to our present object to explain why says, whether in
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Speaker 1: the body I know not, or whether out of the
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Speaker 1: body I know not, God knoweth. But I shall add
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Speaker 1: to my argument even those very points which Celsus imagines, viz.
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Speaker 1: That Jesus himself related the account of the opening of
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Speaker 1: the heavens and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
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Speaker 1: him at the Jordan in the form of a dove,
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Speaker 1: although the scripture does not assert that he said that
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Speaker 1: he saw it. For this great man did not perceive
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Speaker 1: that it was not in keeping with him who commanded
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Speaker 1: his disciples on the occasion of the vision on the
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Speaker 1: mount quote, tell what ye have seen to no man
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Speaker 1: until the sun may be risen from the dead end.
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Speaker 1: Quote to have related to his disciples what was seen
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Speaker 1: and heard by John at the Jordan. For it may
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Speaker 1: be observed as a trait of the character of Jesus
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Speaker 1: that he, on all occasions avoided unnecessary talk about himself,
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Speaker 1: and on that account said, if I speak of myself,
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Speaker 1: my witness is not true. And since he avoided unnecessary
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Speaker 1: talk about himself and preferred to show by acts rather
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Speaker 1: than words, that he was the Christ. The Jews for
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Speaker 1: that reason said to him, Quote, if thou art the Christ,
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Speaker 1: tell est plainly end quote. And as it is a
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Speaker 1: Jew who, in the work of Celsus uses the language
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Speaker 1: to Jesus regarding the appearance of the Holy Spirit in
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Speaker 1: the form of a dove, quote, this is your own testimony,
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Speaker 1: unsupported save by one of those who were sharers of
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Speaker 1: your punishment, whom you reduce. End quote. It is necessary
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Speaker 1: for us to show him that such a statement is
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Speaker 1: not appropriately placed in the mouth of a Jew. For
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Speaker 1: the Jews do not connect John with Jesus, nor the
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Speaker 1: punishment of John with that of Christ. And by this instance,
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Speaker 1: this man, who boasts of universal knowledge, is convicted of
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Speaker 1: not knowing what words he ought to ascribe to a
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Speaker 1: Jew engage in a disputation with Jesus. After this he
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Speaker 1: wilfully sets aside. I know not why the strongest evidence
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Speaker 1: in confirmation of the claims of Jesus viz. That his
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Speaker 1: coming was predicted by the Jewish prophets Moses and those
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Speaker 1: who who succeeded, as well as preceded that legislator from inability,
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Speaker 1: as I think, to meet the argument that neither the
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Speaker 1: Jews nor any other heretical sect refused to believe that
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Speaker 1: Christ was the subject of prophecy, But perhaps he was
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Speaker 1: unacquainted with the prophecies relating to Christ. For no one
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Speaker 1: who was acquainted with the statements of the Christians that
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Speaker 1: many prophets foretold the advent of the Savior would have
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Speaker 1: ascribed to a Jew sentiments which it would have better
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Speaker 1: befitted a Samaritan or a Saduacey to utter. Nor would
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Speaker 1: the Jew in the dialogue have expressed himself in language
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Speaker 1: like the following quote. But my prophet once declared in
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Speaker 1: Jerusalem that the Son of God will come as the
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Speaker 1: judge of the righteous and the punisher of the wicked
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Speaker 1: end quote. Now, it is not one of the prophets
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Speaker 1: merely who predicted the advent of Christ. But although the
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Speaker 1: Samaritans and Sadducees who received the Books of Moses alone
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Speaker 1: would say that there were contained in them predictions regarding Christ,
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Speaker 1: yet certainly not in Jerusalem, which is not even mentioned
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Speaker 1: in the Times of Moses, was the prophecy uttered. It
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Speaker 1: were indeed to be desired that all the accusers of
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Speaker 1: Christianity were equally ignorant with Celsus, not only of the facts,
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Speaker 1: but of the bare letter of scripture, and would so
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Speaker 1: direct their assaults against it that their arguments might not
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Speaker 1: have the least available influence in shaking. I do not
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Speaker 1: say the faith, but the little faith of unstable and
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Speaker 1: temporary believers. A Jew, however, would not admit that any
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Speaker 1: prophet used the expression quote the Son of God will
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Speaker 1: come end quote. For the term which they employ is
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Speaker 1: quote the Christ of God will come end quote. And
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Speaker 1: many a time, indeed, do they directly interrogate us about
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Speaker 1: the quote Son of God end quote, saying that no
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Speaker 1: such being exists or was made the subject of prophecy.
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Speaker 1: We do not, of course, assert that the Son of
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Speaker 1: God is not the subject of prophecy, but we assert
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Speaker 1: that he most inappropriately attributes to the Jewish disputant, who
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Speaker 1: would not allow that he was such language as quote.
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Speaker 1: My prophet once declared in Jerusalem that the Son of
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Speaker 1: God will come end quote in the next place, as
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Speaker 1: if the only event predicted were this, that he was
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Speaker 1: to be quote, the judge of the righteous and the
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Speaker 1: punisher of the wicked end quote, and as if neither
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Speaker 1: the place of his birth nor the sufferings which he
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Speaker 1: was to endure at the hands of the Jews, nor
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Speaker 1: his resurrection, nor the wonderful works which he was to perform,
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Speaker 1: had been made the subject of prophecy, He continues, quote
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Speaker 1: why should it be you alone rather than innumerable others
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Speaker 1: who existed after the prophecies were published, to whom these
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Speaker 1: predictions are applicable end quote. And desiring I know not
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Speaker 1: how to suggest to others the possibility of the notion
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Speaker 1: that they themselves were the persons referred to by the prophets,
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Speaker 1: he says that quote quote some carried away by enthusiasm,
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Speaker 1: and others, having gathered a multitude of followers, give out
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Speaker 1: that the Son of God is coming down from Heaven
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Speaker 1: end quote. Now we have not ascertained that such occurrences
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Speaker 1: are admitted to have taken place among the Jews. We
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Speaker 1: have to remark, then, in the first place, that many
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Speaker 1: of the prophets have uttered predictions in all kinds of
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Speaker 1: ways regarding Christ, some by means of dark sayings, others
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Speaker 1: in allegories or in some other manner, and some also
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Speaker 1: in express words. And as in what follows, he says,
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Speaker 1: in the character of the Jew, addressing the converts from
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Speaker 1: his own nation, and repeating emphatically and malevolently. That quote.
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Speaker 1: The prophecies referred to the events of his life may
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Speaker 1: also suit other events as well. End quote. We shall
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Speaker 1: state a few of them out of a greater number.
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Speaker 1: And with respect to these, any one who chooses may
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Speaker 1: say what he thinks fitted to ensure a refutation of them,
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Speaker 1: and which may turn away intelligent believers from the faith.
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Speaker 1: End of chapters forty one through fifty of Against Celsus
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Speaker 1: by Origin, read by David Ronald