CELSUS
(178ECE) Wrote"On the True Doctrine, known primarily from
the polemical book, "Contra Celsum," written br Origen
of Alexandria in response the Celsus's questions. Celsus' books,
along with those of Porphry and others, were condemned by order
of Valentinian III and Theodosious in 448CE. Celsus' writing is
one of the few writings made in response to christian claims that
survives today in any form; the church, beginning with its first
alliances with Roman power in Constantine's time, never took
criticisms lightly; anyone with the audacity to question their
claims was branded a "heretic," and their books were
banned and burned, often alongside their authors. Celsus is one
of the handful of critics who have not been written completely
out of history.
Celsus gives us a glimpse of the criticisms made against
christian claims. In that he wrote before the second century, it
is interesting to note that many of his criticisms are still with
us today as topics of lively debate. For example, Celsus'
questions the compatability of God and the Devil within the
framework of monotheism. The issues he raise are precisely the
core of the "problem of evil" which has so occupied the
minds of theologians. He mentions the issue of scriptural
redaction and forgery, concerns which have proven valid in light
of scholarly findings. He takes issue with prophecy, and makes
the well-known case that nothing in the Jewish writings foretell
the coming of a "world-saviour." The messiah, Celsus
says, was to be a "leader of nations and armies."
Celsus points out the obvious influence of greek myth and
writings in the construction of the christian myth, and pokes fun
at what he thinks of as greek myths being misinterpreted by
christians as literal occurences.
The following quotes are taken from Celsus On the True Doctrine,
translated by R. Joseph Hoffman, Oxford University Press, 1987:
SCRITURAL REDACTION
"It
is clear to me that the writings of the christians are a lie, and
that your fables are not well-enough constructed to conceal this
monstrous fiction: I have heard that some of your
interpreters...are on to the inconsistencies and, pen in hand,
alter the originals writings, three, four and several more times
over in order to be able to deny the contradictions in the face
of criticism." (37).
"There is nothing new or impressive about their ethical
teaching; indeed, when one compares it to other philosophies,
their simplemindedness becomes apparent." (53).
"One ought first to follow reason as a guide before
accepting any belief, since anyone who believes without testing a
doctrine is certain to be deceived" (54).
VIRGIN BIRTH
"Let us imagine what a Jew- let alone a philosopher- might
say to Jesus: 'Is it not true, good sir, that you fabricated the
story of your birth from a virgin to quiet rumourss about the
true and insavoury circumstances of your origins? Is it not the
case that far from being born in the royal David's city of
bethlehem, you were born in a poor country town, and of a woman
who earned her living by spinning? Is it not the case that when
her deceit was uncovered, to wit, that she was pregnant by a
roman soldier called Panthera she was driven away by her husband-
the carpenter- and convicted of adultery?" (57).
"I could continue along these lines, suggesting a good deal
about the affairs of Jesus' life that does not appear in your own
records. Indeed, what I know to be the case and what the
disciples tell are two very different stories... [for example]
the nonsensical idea that Jesus foresaw everything that was to
happen to him (an obvious attempt to conceal the humiliating
facts)." (62).
"The men who fabricated this geneaology [of Jesus] were
insistent on on the point that Jesus was descended from the first
man and from the king of the Jews [David]. The poor carpenter's
wife seems not to have known she had such a distinguished bunch
of ancestors." (64).
"What an absurdity! Clearly the christians have used the
myths of Danae and the Melanippe, or of the Auge and the Antiope
in fabricating the story of Jesus' virgin birth." (57).
"After all, the old myths of the greeks that attribute a
divine birth to Perseus, Amphion, Aeacus and Minos are equally
good evidence of their wondrous works on behalf of mankind- and
are certainly no less lacking in plausibility than the stories of
your followers." (59).
PROPHECY
[SEE
ALSO:
ANALYSIS OF PROPHECY ]
"Now
perhaps you will argue that we have the words of the holy
prophets- that they bore witness concerning you. With due
respect, I must ask why you are to be taken as the subject of
these prophecies rather than the thousands of others who lived
after the prophecy was uttered? What can be applied to you can
surely be applied to others." (58).
"...they take as their defense the notion that the prophets
of the jews foretold their christian god. But this is a very old
ploy... anyone can prove anything from so-called prophecy."
(106).
Speaking of prophets in his own time, Celsus says: "These
habitually claim to to be more than prophets, and say such things
as 'I am god,' or 'I am a son of god,' or even 'I am the holy
spirit,' and 'I have come to bring life for the world is coming
to an end as I speak. And the wicked will perish in the fire for
their sins. I shall save you; you will yet see me, for I am
coming again armed with the heavenly powers. So blessed is he
that worships me now. Those who refuse, whole cities and nations,
will be cast into the fiery pit... Those who hear and believe in
me will be saved (from the fire.' This sort of thing is heard all
over Judea by these most trivial of prophets." (107).
"You are fond of saying that in the old days this same most
high god made these and greater promises to those who gave heed
to his commandments and worshipped him. But at the risk of
appearing unkind, I ask how much good has been done by those
promises have done either the Jews before you or you in your
present circumstances. And would you have us put out faith in
such a god? Instead of being masters of the whole world, the jews
today have no home of any kind." (125).
"...now with a view to the prophets who, so say the
chrisitians, foretold the story of Jesus beforehand: 'These same
prophecies could easily be applied to a thousand others besides
Jesus, for our prophets say that the one who is to come will be a
great prince... the leader of nations and armies." (64).
"Certainly the christians are not alone in claiming
inspiration for the utterances they ascribe to their god through
their prophets. I need hardly mention every case of prophecy that
is said to have occurred among our own people-- prophets and
prophetesses as well... claiming the power of oracular and
inspired utterance." (120).
"In all of these beliefs you have been deceived; yet you
persist doggedly to seek justification for the absurdities you
have made doctrines." (65).
"Let's assume for a minute that he foretold his
resurrection. Are you ignorant of the multitudes wh ohave
invented similar tales to lead simple minded hearers astray? It
is said that Zamolxis, Pythagoras' servant, convinced the
Scythians that he had risen from the dead... and what about
Pythagoras himself in Italy! -or Rhampssinitus in Egypt. The last
of these, by the way, is said to have played dice with Demeter in
Hades and to have received a golden napkin as a present from her.
Now then, who else: What about Orpheus among the Odrysians,
Protesiaus in Thessaly and above all Heracles and Theseus."
(67).
THE END OF THE WORLD
[see also: PAROUSIA OR PARANOIA? ]
"They
[christians] postulate, for example, that their messiah will
return as a conqueror on the clouds, and that he will rain fire
upon the earth in his battle with the princes of the air, and
that the whole world, with the exception of believing christians,
will be consumed in fire. An interesting idead-- and hardly an
original one. The idea came from greeks and others-- namely, that
after cycles of years and because of fortuitous conjunctions of
certain stars there are conflagrations and floods, and that after
the last flood, in the tiome of Deucalion, the cycle demands a
conflagration in accordance with the alternating
succession...This is responsible for the silly opinion of some
christians that god will come down and rain fire upon the
earth." (77).
"It is equally silly of these christians to suppose that
when their god applies the fire (like a common cook!) all the
rest of mankind will be thoroughly scorched, and that they alone
will escape unscorched-- not just those alive at the time, mind
you, but (they say) those long since dead will rise up from the
earth possessing the same bodies as they did before. I ask you:
Is this not the hope of worms? For what sort of human soul is it
that has any use for a rotted corpse of a body? ...it is nothing
less than nauseating and impossible."(86).
"In truth there is nothing at all unusual about what the
christians believe, except that they believe it to the exclusion
of more comprehensive truths about god. They believe in eternal
punishment; well, so do the priests and initiates of the various
religions. The christian threaten others with this punishment,
just as they are themselves threatened." (121).
"God does not inflict correction on the world as if he were
some unskilled laborer who is incapable of building something
properly the first time around; God has no need to purify what he
has built by means of a flood or a conflagration (as they
teach)." (82).
"So too their fantastic story-- which they take from the
Jews-- concerning the flood and the building of an enormous ark,
and the business about the message being brought back to the
survivors of the flood by a dove (or was it an old crow?). This
is nothing more than a debased and nonsensical version of the
myth of Deucalion, a fact I am sure they would not want to come
light." (80).
UNORIGINALITY IN CHRISTIAN WRITINGS
"Many of the ideas of the christians have been expressed
better-- and earlier-- by the greeks, who were however modest
enough to refrain from saying that their ideas came from a god or
a son of god. The ancients in their wisdom revealed certain
truths to those able to understand: Plato, son of Ariston, points
to the truth about the highest good when he says that it cannot
be expressed in words, but rather comes from familiarity-- like a
flash frpm the blue, imprinting itself upon the soul... But
Plato, having said this, does not go on to record some myth to
make his point (as do so many others), nor does he silence the
inquirer who questions some of the truths he professes; Plato
does not ask people to stop questioning, or to accept that god id
like such and such...Rather, he tells us where his doctrines come
from; there is, in short, a history to what he says, and he is
happy to point to the sources of his knowledge, instead of asking
us to believe that he speaks on his own authority..."
(92-93).
"Not only do they misunderstand the words of the
philosophers; they even stoop to assigning words of the
philosophers to their Jesus. For example, we are told that Jesus
judged the rich with the saying 'It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of god.' Yet we know that Plato expressed this very idea
in a purer form when he said, 'It is impossible for an
exceptionally good man to be exceptionally rich.'* Is one
utterance more inspired than the other?" (94).
[*Plato, LAWS, 743A]
"You christians have a saying that goes something like this:
'Don't resist a man who insults you; even if he strikes you,
offer your other cheek as well.' This is nothing new, and its
been better said by others, especially by Plato, who ascribes the
following to Socrates in the Crito...'ts never right to do wrong
and never right to take revenge; nor is it right to give evil for
evil, or in the case of one who has suffered some injury, to
attempt to get even...'" (113).
"Christians, needless to say, utterly detest one another;
they slander each other constantly with the vilest forms of
abuse, and cannot come to any sort of agreement in their
teaching. Each sect brands its own, fills the head of its own
with deceitful nonsense...". (91).
"What do the christians say? They say, "First believe
that the person who tells us these things is god's son... Now if
these beleivers confess Jesus and others confess someone else,
and if they all together have the slogan "Believe and be
saved, or damn you," what is to happen to those who really
do want to be saved? I mean, which path are they to follow, since
advice of the same sort comes from all quarters? Are the ones who
crave salvation to throw dice in order to find out where they
should turn?" (93).
As for satan being cast down to earth, "Homer writes as
follows of the words spoken by Hephaestus to Hera: 'Once when I
was ready to defend you, he took my by the foot and cast me down
from the heavenly places.' Zeus speaks to Hera as follows, 'Do
you remember when you were hanging on high, when I attached
anvils to his legs and cast unbroken chains of gold about your
arms? You were hanging high in the ether of clouds. Then the gods
struck...but I, seizing him, pitched him from the threshold of
heaven, and he fell helplessly to earth.'" (100).
ON THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
"But if these [Eden, Adam and Eve] are Truly creator's
works, can it be that god should make what is evil? How can he
repent when they become ungrateful or wicked? How can he find
fault with his own handiwork, or threaten to destroy his own
offspring? Where is he to banish them, out of the world that he
himself has made?" (102)
"I mean, if it is accepted that all of nature-- everything
in the world-- operates accoeding to the will of god and that
nothing works contrary to his purposes, then it must be also be
accepted that the angels, the demons, heroes-- everything in the
universe-- are subject to the rule of the great god who rules
over all." (115).
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