Work record

Against Celsus (Contra Celsum)

Origen

Also known as: Contra Celsum · Origen Against Celsus · Against Celsus

c. 248 · Ancient · Philosophy · Greek

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Abstract

Written: c. 248
Setting: Mid-third century, shortly before the Decian persecution; Caesarea, Palestine
Author: Origen; trans. Frederick Crombie
Country: Roman Empire (Palestine)
Language: Greek
Genre: Apologetic treatise
Form: Prose reply in eight books, quoting its opponent section by section
Recommended: Grades 10–12 (Long point-by-point apologetic; read selected chapters with guidance.)

Background. Some seventy years before, a Greek intellectual had published a scornful pamphlet calling the followers of Jesus credulous, low-born and dangerous to Rome. When a wealthy friend sent it to the elderly scholar in Caesarea and begged for an answer, he agreed, though he thought the gospel needed little defending.

Charges. The pamphlet claimed believers shun thought, that their founder worked by sorcery, that resurrection of the flesh is absurd, and that refusing the gods and military service betrays the state.

Reply. Working line by line, the author quotes each accusation and then answers it. He points to prophecies fulfilled, to ordinary people made virtuous, to the bravery of martyrs, and to the antiquity of Moses. Fluent in Plato and the Stoics, he often lets the philosophers rebut their admirer.

Loyalty. Near the end he insists Christians are the empire's best citizens: they do not bear arms, but they pray for rulers and for peace and live honestly.

Legacy. Because the original attack is lost, this reply preserves it. The book stands as the high point of early Christian apologetic, offered here in Crombie's complete nineteenth-century translation. Readers can follow both voices, ancient critic and Christian scholar, side by side.

Key figures

Origen: Christian scholar and author of the reply
Celsus: Greek philosopher whose lost attack, The True Discourse, is answered
Ambrose: Origen's patron, who asked him to write the work

Summary

Against Celsus is the most important defence of Christianity written before the conversion of Constantine. Around 248, Origen's friend and patron Ambrose asked him to answer The True Discourse, an attack on Christians by the Greek philosopher Celsus, written some seventy years earlier, probably in the 170s. Celsus's book is lost, but Origen quotes it so thoroughly, section by section, that much of it can be reconstructed. Celsus mocked Christians as uneducated people who demanded faith without reasons, charged that Jesus was a magician of humble birth whose miracles were tricks, used a Jewish speaker to dispute the gospel stories, ridiculed the resurrection of the body, and accused Christians of weakening the empire by refusing to worship its gods or serve in its armies. Origen replies in eight books. He opens by recalling that Jesus kept silent before false witnesses, and says he writes not for those firm in faith but for those who might be shaken. He argues that the spread of the faith among every class of people, the fulfilment of prophecy, the changed lives of believers and the courage of martyrs are evidence of its truth. He shows a detailed knowledge of Plato, the Stoics and other philosophers, often turning their own words against Celsus, and defends the Hebrew Scriptures as older and wiser than Greek myths. To the charge of disloyalty he answers that Christians pray for the emperor and serve the common good by their prayers and their upright lives, even though they do not fight. Origen does not always succeed: he sometimes answers ridicule with ridicule, and modern readers may find parts of his treatment of Greek religion and of Celsus's Jewish speaker one-sided. But his patience in quoting his opponent and his range of learning are remarkable. The work is a key source both for early pagan criticism of Christianity and for how a learned Christian answered it.

Plot or Argument

Preface and Book I
Why Origen answers at all; Celsus's charges about secret societies, faith without reason, and the birth and miracles of Jesus.
Book II
Replies to the Jewish speaker Celsus invents, on the passion and resurrection of Jesus.
Books III–IV
The social makeup of the church, the Jewish Scriptures and Greek myths, providence and the place of humans in creation.
Books V–VII
Angels, the Jewish law, Greek philosophy and Christian worship; prophecy and the nature of God.
Book VIII
Demons, idols and sacrifices; Christians and the emperor; Origen's closing appeal to Ambrose.

Lessons

Answering critics fairly
Origen quotes his opponent at length before replying, so readers can judge both sides. Even when he is sharp, he engages Celsus's actual arguments rather than a caricature.
- Why is quoting an opponent fully a sign of confidence?
- Where does Origen seem most persuasive, and where least?
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Context

In the second and third centuries Christians were a growing but suspect minority in the Roman Empire. Educated pagans saw them as ignorant and disloyal; local persecutions broke out, and in 250 Emperor Decius ordered all citizens to sacrifice to the gods.

Composition

Origen wrote the eight books in Caesarea around 248, late in his life, at the request of his patron Ambrose. Celsus's True Discourse, probably from the 170s, survives only in Origen's quotations.

Reception

Eusebius of Caesarea admired and used the work, and Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus included extracts in the Philocalia. Modern scholars value it both as Christian apologetic and as the main witness to an early pagan critique of Christianity.

Faith / Religion Science / Knowledge Power / Politics Education Doubt Meaning

Comparisons

On First Principles (De Principiis)
Origen's systematic theology for believers, written two decades earlier; Against Celsus defends the faith to outsiders.
The First Apology
Justin defended Christians to the emperor nearly a century before, with a briefer appeal to reason and prophecy.
City of God
Augustine later answered pagan critics on a grander scale after the sack of Rome in 410.
The History of the Church
Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, tells his life story in Book VI.

Quotes

“When false witnesses testified against our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, He remained silent; and when unfounded charges were brought against Him, He returned no answer”

— Origen, Against Celsus (Contra Celsum), Book I, Preface, trans. Frederick Crombie (1872).Quote card

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Confessions, Book I
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“we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace”

— Origen, Against Celsus (Contra Celsum), Book VIII, Chapter LXXIII, trans. Frederick Crombie (1872).Quote card

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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The Preface, where Origen compares his task to Jesus' silence before false witnesses.
Celsus's charge in Book I that Christians believe without reasons.
The Jewish speaker Celsus introduces in Books I and II.
Origen's reply on Christians and the emperor at the end of Book VIII.

Key terms and names

Apologetics: Reasoned defence of a belief against critics.
The True Discourse: Celsus's lost attack on Christianity, known only through Origen's quotations.
Celsus: Second-century Greek philosopher, probably a Platonist, who wrote against the Christians.
Ambrose: Origen's wealthy friend and patron who asked him to write the reply.
Prophecy: Predictions in the Hebrew Scriptures that Origen argues were fulfilled in Jesus.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Who was Celsus, and what were his main charges against Christians?
Comprehension Why did Origen agree to answer a book written decades earlier?
Interpretation How does Origen use Greek philosophy against Celsus?
Interpretation Is Origen fair to his opponent?
Interpretation Why does Origen claim that Christians help the emperor more by prayer than soldiers do by fighting?
Big Question What makes an argument for a belief persuasive to someone outside it?

Faith Connections

1 Peter 3:15 (Scripture)
'Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.'
Matthew 26:62-63 (Scripture)
Jesus' silence before the high priest, with which Origen opens.
Augustine, The City of God (Great Conversation)
A later, larger answer to pagan critics of Christianity.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: The charges of Celsus fail on their own terms: the faith rests on fulfilled prophecy, changed lives and sound reasoning, and Christians serve the common good even when they refuse pagan worship and war.

Rhetorical device: refutation. Origen quotes a passage of Celsus and then answers it point by point, often citing Plato against him.

Debate: Resolved: that Origen successfully answers Celsus's charge that Christians are disloyal to the empire.

Memory Work

When false witnesses testified against our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, He remained silent; and when unfounded charges were brought against Him, He returned no answer
Book I, Preface, trans. Frederick Crombie (1872). The famous opening that frames the whole defence.

we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace
Book VIII, Chapter LXXIII, trans. Frederick Crombie (1872). A key early Christian statement on prayer, peace and public life.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Summarize Celsus's strongest objection to Christianity and evaluate Origen's reply.

Comparison with The First Apology: Compare how Justin Martyr and Origen defend Christians against the charge of disloyalty to Rome.

Creative Prompts

Classroom
Stage a debate in which one student presents a charge from Celsus and another answers with Origen's reply from the same chapter.
Essay
Choose one of Celsus's objections and write your own reply, then compare it with Origen's.
Essay
Explain why Origen opens his defence by recalling that Jesus kept silent before false witnesses.