Celsus
Celsus was born in about 140 AD. Very little is known about his personal history except that he lived during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was also a follower of early Greek philosophers including Socrates and Plato. In about 170 he published On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians. (1)
It has been argued by Henry Chadwick that in this book, Celsus attempted to justify the traditional polytheistic Roman state religion. He was also the first to recognize the strength of young Christianity: "that this unpolitical, quietistic and pacifist community had the power to change the social and political order of the Roman empire." (2)
Celsus states that tradition is sovereign, that old-time religions are always superior and that Christianity poses a threat to it. He went on to say that Christianity is a break with the religious traditions of the human race. "Celsus makes it clear he is 'relativistic' in the sense that he recognises that all cannot worship the Olympians, that each nation and culture has its own peculiar ancient laws; all this is fine as long as we are still in the area of the traditional, which means polytheism (the belief in or worship of more than one god)." (3) This argument suggests that Celsus was "a conservative intellectual" who "supports traditional values and defends accepted beliefs". (4)
Celsus points out that Jesus was a Jew: "The Jews, like other separate nationalities, have established laws according to their national genius, and preserve a form of worship which has at least the merit of being ancestral and national, - for each nation has its own institutions, whatever they may chance to be. This seems an expedient arrangement, not only because different minds think differently, and because it is our duty to preserve what has been established in the interests of the state, but also because in all probability the parts of the earth were originally allotted to different overseers, and are now administered accordingly. To do what is pleasing to these overseers is to do what is right: to abolish the institutions that have existed in each place from the first is impiety." (5)
Celsus points out that the Jewish and Christian religious worship only one God (monotheism): "The wisest of nations, cities, and men in every age have held by certain general principles of thought and action: to this ancient tradition the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians and Indians, Samothracians and Druids, alike adhere; but the Jews and Moses have no part nor lot in it. I pass by those who explain away the Mosaic records by plausible allegorising. The Mosaic account in regard to the age of the world is false: the flood being in the time of Deucalion was comparatively recent. Neither the teaching nor the institutions of Moses have any claim to originality. He appropriated doctrines which he had heard from men and nations of repute for wisdom. He borrowed the rite of circumcision from the Egyptians. He deluded goatherds and shepherds into the belief that there was one God - whom they called the Highest, or Adonai, or the Heavenly, or Sabaoth, or whatever names they please to give to this world - and there their knowledge ceased. It is of no import whether the God over all be called by the name that is usual among the Greeks, or that which obtains among the Indians or Egyptians." (6)
Celsus admits that Christianity and Judaism were different as they rejected core Jewish customs and laws on circumcision, diet, festivals and keeping the Sabbath. "They cannot have it both ways: either they are a new sect with no relation to Judaism, or they are a cousin of the Jewish faith, in which case they are not entitled to take a pick-and-mix approach to its doctrines. Even some Christians acknowledged that this was a telling point. Judaism was a nationalistic sect, with no claims to universifiability, but Christianity claimed to be a world religion; it was thus both implicitly and explicitly a threat to the Roman empire and to social stability in general: implicitly because of its dogmas, and explicitly because it proselytised. Judaism was compatible with paganism since both practised sacrifice; Christianity emphatically was not." (7)
Celsus attacked the personality of the Christians themselves, condemning them as being uneducated and therefore popular with slaves and the lower classes. "Christianity is for hysterical women, children and idiots." (8) He appealed to a deep Roman snobbery by asking how the thoughts of cobblers and weavers could be put in the same class as the ideas of learned philosophers. He also quoted the words of Epictetus who said that Christians could face death fearlessly because they emphasised the irrational over reason and were childishly ignorant. (9)
"First, however, I must deal with the matter of Jesus, the so-called savior, who not long ago taught new doctrines and was thought to be a son of God. This savior, I shall attempt to show, deceived many and caused them to accept a form of belief harmful to the well-being of mankind. Taking its root in the lower classes, the religion continues to spread among the vulgar: nay, one can even say it spreads because of its vulgarity and the illiteracy of its adherents. And while there are a few moderate, reasonable, and intelligent people who interpret its beliefs allegorically, yet it thrives in its purer form among the ignorant." (10)
Celsus accused Christians of setting up a "church" that diverted allegiances that should properly be the state's, and in worshipping a man (Jesus) instead of a god, thus building up a mere man at the expense of the gods. Roman citizens could not serve two masters and a "house divided against itself must fall". He went onto argue that it was absurd to worship both God and his servant. Not only were Christians building up a man (Jesus) at the expense of God, but since he was dead, they were committing the ultimate blasphemy of worshipping a corpse. (11)
Celsus disagreed that God punished humans by causing earthquakes and floods: "Evils are not caused by God; rather, that they are a part of the nature of matter and of mankind; that the period of mortal life is the same from beginning to end, and that because things happen in cycles, what is happening now - evils that is - happened before and will happen again... Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men." (12)
Celsus does not deny that Jesus performed miracles, but not because he was the son of God. He claims that Jesus was a master magician and illusionist, trained in Egypt. Celsus suggests that the Virgin Birth is nonsense; what actually happened was that Mary was a poor spinner who committed adultery with a soldier called Panthera and was then kicked out by her carpenter husband. When she gave birth to her illegitimate son, he went to Egypt and learned magic and prestidigitation. Other people can do similar tricks, "so what exactly entitles Jesus thereafter is a mishmash of different traditions." (13)
In On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians Celsus attacks the Christian doctrines of creation, original sin, redemption, incarnation and resurrection. He decries the idea that crucifixion (the type of death-penalty reserved by the Romans for the lowest class) could be divine. "So that if he (Jesus) had happened to be thrown off a cliff, or pushed into a pit, or suffocated by strangling, or if he had been a cobbler or stonemason or blacksmith, there would have been a cliff of life above the heavens, or a pit of resurrection, or a rope of immortality, or a blessed stone, or an iron of love, or a holy hide of leather. Would not an old women who sings a song to lull a little child have been ashamed to whisper such tales as these." (14)
Celsus admitted that there were a lot of myths in Roman culture. However, Romans knew they were myths but Christians had the audacity to expect us to believe that their myths are true. "Why is it a narrative at the higher level of reliability than the stories about the Greeks and the Trojans, Oedipus and Iocasta and the other myths? (15) Celsus claims that chief witness was a hysterical female (Mary Magdalene) who was "half crazy from fear and grief, and possibly one other of the same band of charlatans who dreamed it all up or saw what they wanted to see - or more likely simply wanted to astonish their friends in the tavern with a good tale." (16)
Celsus was especially critical of the doctrine of Incarnation. If an omnipotent God wanted to achieve the moral reformation of humanity, why did he not do so by a simple exercise of willpower? As for redemption, what about all the innumerable people who lived before he was incarnated? Don't they count, or did God simply not care before the Christian era? "Whichever answer we give, it will not satisfy Christian doctrine. Maybe God is not omnipotent, omniscient or benevolent, or maybe he possesses at most two out of the three attributes? Whatever the case, he emerges as the kind of arbitrary and capricious deity that only morans could believe in." (17)
Celsus book was suppressed and eventually banned in 448 AD by order of Valentinian III (western Emperor) and Theodosius II (eastern Emperor). Those copies that could be found were destroyed and unfortunately no complete copies have survived. (18) We mainly know about his work because the Christian philosopher, Origen, quoted him at great length in Contra Celsum, a refutation written in 248. (19)
The church's usual tactic for dealing with hostile writings was to ignore them; the reasoning behind this was that, eventually, the writings would be lost and all would be forgotten. This was therefore how the church chose to respond to Celsus. This was the initial view taken by Origen but he was encouraged by church leaders to write a response to the views expressed by Celsus, because of his claim that no self-respecting philosopher of the Platonic tradition would ever be so stupid as to become a Christian. (20)
Primary Sources
(1) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
Christianity is for hysterical women, children and idiots.
(2) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
If you overthrow traditional teaching there would be nothing to prevent the emperor from being abandoned, alone and deserted, while all the good things of the earth came into the possession of lawless and savage barbarians.
(3) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
So that if he (Jesus) had happened to be thrown off a cliff, or pushed into a pit, or suffocated by strangling, or if he had been a cobbler or stonemason or blacksmith, there would have been a cliff of life above the heavens, or a pit of resurrection, or a rope of immortality, or a blessed stone, or an iron of love, or a holy hide of leather. Would not an old women who sings a song to lull a little child have been ashamed to whisper such tales as these.
(4) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
The chief witness (of the resurrection) is a hysterical female (Mary Magdalene)… half crazy from fear and grief, and possibly one other of the same band of charlatans who dreamed it all up or saw what they wanted to see – or more likely simply wanted to astonish their friends in the tavern with a good tale.
(5) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
First, however, I must deal with the matter of Jesus, the so-called savior, who not long ago taught new doctrines and was thought to be a son of God. This savior, I shall attempt to show, deceived many and caused them to accept a form of belief harmful to the well-being of mankind. Taking its root in the lower classes, the religion continues to spread among the vulgar: nay, one can even say it spreads because of its vulgarity and the illiteracy of its adherents. And while there are a few moderate, reasonable, and intelligent people who interpret its beliefs allegorically, yet it thrives in its purer form among the ignorant.
(6) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
Evils are not caused by God; rather, that they are a part of the nature of matter and of mankind; that the period of mortal life is the same from beginning to end, and that because things happen in cycles, what is happening now - evils that is - happened before and will happen again.
(7) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
He distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men.
(8) Celsus, The Fragments of Celsus (c. 180)
The wisest of nations, cities, and men in every age have held by certain general principles of thought and action: to this ancient tradition the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians and Indians, Samothracians and Druids, alike adhere; but the Jews and Moses have no part nor lot in it. I pass by those who explain away the Mosaic records by plausible allegorising. The Mosaic account in regard to the age of the world is false: the flood being in the time of Deucalion was comparatively recent. Neither the teaching nor the institutions of Moses have any claim to originality. He appropriated doctrines which he had heard from men and nations of repute for wisdom. He borrowed the rite of circumcision from the Egyptians. He deluded goatherds and shepherds into the belief that there was one God - whom they called the Highest, or Adonai, or the Heavenly, or Sabaoth, or whatever names they please to give to this world - and there their knowledge ceased. It is of no import whether the God over all be called by the name that is usual among the Greeks, or that which obtains among the Indians or Egyptians.
(9) Celsus, The Fragments of Celsus (c. 180)
The Jews, like other separate nationalities, have established laws according to their national genius, and preserve a form of worship which has at least the merit of being ancestral and national, - for each nation has its own institutions, whatever they may chance to be. This seems an expedient arrangement, not only because different minds think differently, and because it is our duty to preserve what has been established in the interests of the state, but also because in all probability the parts of the earth were originally allotted to different overseers, and are now administered accordingly. To do what is pleasing to these overseers is to do what is right: to abolish the institutions that have existed in each place from the first is impiety.
(10) Celsus, The Fragments of Celsus (c. 180)
All their religious conceptions are outward and material. They say that God is of a bodily nature, and has a body in form like that of a man. Material, too, is their conception of eternal life. Ask to what place they are departing, or what hope they have, and they answer - “To another land better than this.” Divine men of old told of a happy life for happy souls, to be passed in the “isles of the blest,” or in the Elysian plains of which Homer speaks. Plato taught that the soul was immortal, and expressly calls the place where it is sent “earth." …They expect to see God with the bodily eye, to hear His voice with their ears, and to touch Him with sensible hands…If a race so craven and carnal can understand anything, let them give ear. Give up your outward vision and look upwards with your mind ; turn aside from the eye of the flesh and raise the eye of the soul : only so will you see God. And if you seek a guide, you must shun vagabonds and jugglers who recommend their phantoms ; you must not blaspheme as idols those who prove themselves to be gods, while you worship one who is not even an idol, but truly a dead man, and seek out a father like unto Him.
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References
(1) Robert Louis Wilken, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (1984) page 94
(2) Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (1967) page 75
(3) Frank McLynn, Marcus Aurelius (2010) page 270
(4) Robert Louis Wilken, The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (1984) page 94
(5) Celsus, The Fragments of Celsus (c. 180)
(6) Celsus, The Fragments of Celsus (c. 180)
(7) Frank McLynn, Marcus Aurelius (2010) page 270
(8) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(9) Epictetus, Discourses (c. 180 AD) 4.7.6
(10) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(11) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(12) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(13) Frank McLynn, Marcus Aurelius (2010) page 272
(14) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(15) Frank McLynn, Marcus Aurelius (2010) page 274
(16) Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (c. 175)
(17) Frank McLynn, Marcus Aurelius (2010) page 275
(18) R. Joseph Hoffmann. On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians (1987) page 29
(19) Hans Küng, Great Christian Thinkers (1994) page 43
(20) Joseph Wilson Trigg, Origen: The Bible and Philosophy in the Third-Century Church (1983) page 214
