Celsus on the true doctrine. Celsus Quotes (Author of On the True Doctrine) 2022-12-20
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Celsus was a Greek philosopher and writer who lived in the second century AD. He is best known for his work "On the True Doctrine," which was a critique of Christianity. In this work, Celsus sought to refute the claims of Christianity and to argue that it was a superstitious and irrational belief system.
Celsus began his critique by attacking the credibility of the Gospels, the primary texts of Christianity. He argued that the Gospels were written many years after the events they describe and were based on hearsay and legends rather than on eyewitness accounts. He also pointed out inconsistencies and contradictions within the Gospels, arguing that they could not be trusted as reliable sources of historical information.
Celsus also took issue with the idea of the divinity of Jesus, arguing that it was absurd to believe that a mere mortal could be the son of God. He argued that the concept of the trinity, which holds that God is one being in three persons, was confusing and contradictory. Celsus maintained that the true doctrine, as he saw it, was one that was based on reason and evidence, and that Christianity failed to meet these standards.
Despite Celsus' criticisms, Christianity continued to spread and thrive in the centuries following the publication of "On the True Doctrine." Today, it remains one of the largest and most influential religions in the world, with billions of followers worldwide.
Despite the enduring popularity of Christianity, Celsus' critique remains relevant and thought-provoking. His arguments and questioning of the historical reliability of the Gospels continue to be debated by scholars and theologians to this day. Celsus' work serves as a reminder that all belief systems, including Christianity, should be subject to critical examination and scrutiny in order to fully understand and appreciate their true nature and significance.
Little thought has been given to the question of what kind of things the targeted readership might wish to have explained. By which words, acknowledging that such individuals are worthy of their god, they manifestly show that they desire and are able to gain over only the silly, and the mean, and the stupid. This is the opinion of Heraclitus; but as for them, they go further, and despise without exception all images. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers? Now I suppose God, being unknown amongst men, and deeming himself on that account to have less than his due, would desire to make himself known, and to make trial both of those who believe upon him and of those who do not, like those of mankind who have recently come into the possession of riches, and who make a display of their wealth; and thus they testify to an excessive but very mortal ambition on the part of God. What god, or spirit, or prudent man would not, on foreseeing that such events were to befall him, avoid them if he could; whereas he threw himself headlong into those things which he knew beforehand were to happen? And I make no new statement, but say what has been long settled.
The Hebrews, being originally Egyptians, date the commencement of their political existence from the time of their rebellion, and in the days of Jesus others who were Jews rebelled against the Jewish state, and became his followers. In that which is evil and base, although it seemed that all men in the world had foretold it in a fit of madness, we must not believe. But no sick man or lunatic is a friend of God, nor does God fear any one to such a degree as to shun danger by leading him into error. They answer that they were won over to him, because they know that his punishment was undergone to bring about the destruction of the father of evil. . 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.
On the True Doctrine: A Discourse against Christians (Celsus) : Celsus : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
. If one were to call us the lords of the animal creation because we hunt the other animals and live upon their flesh, we would say,—Why were not we rather created on their account, since they hunt and devour us? The wars among the bees convey instruction as to the manner in which wars, if ever there arise a necessity for them, should be waged in a just and orderly way among men. The world is full of such instances. Those who refuse, whole cities and nations, will be cast into the fiery pit. He appropriated doctrines which he had heard from men and nations of repute for wisdom. Let us then pass over the refutations which might be adduced against the claims of their teacher, and let him be regarded as really an angel. How many who mourned over their childlessness, have obtained the blessing they asked for! They do not show themselves for once, or at intervals, like him who has deceived men, but they are ever open to intercourse with those who desire it.
In this way God rather subjected men to wild beasts. And hence that maxim of theirs, 'It is impossible to serve two masters,' is maintained for the purpose of keeping up the party who are on the side of this Lord. There is no kind of spirit which lasts for ever. . The trick I use is to locate the quote in Hoffmann. For the sake of such a monstrous delusion, and in support of those wonderful advisers, and those wonderful words which you address to the lion, to the amphibious creature, to the creature in the form of an ass, and to others, for the sake of those divine doorkeepers whose names you commit to memory with such pains, in such a cause as this you suffer cruel tortures, and perish at the stake.
On page 117 Hoffmann adds an explicit reference to Plato to CC 8. I have seen in the hands of certain presbyters belonging to your faith barbarous books, containing the names and marvellous doings of demons; these presbyters of your faith professed to do no good, but all that was calculated to injure human beings. But the Christians cannot bear to call such beings gods, because they were at first men, and yet they manifested many noble qualifies, which were displayed for the benefit of mankind, while they assert that Jesus was seen after His death by his own followers. The arguments for the date depend on factors such as the state of the art of gnosticism, possible references to the Augusti, appeals to defense against barbarian invasion, and the possibility of identifying the persecution described by Celsus with a historical one. 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. Celsus' books, along with those of Porphry and others, were condemned by order of Valentinian III and Theodosious in 448CE. You have been most ridiculously deceived, and have become deserters to another name and to another mode of life.
Hoffmann has also not placed the references to Contra Celsum next to his text, leaving the reader to guess how to relate the two. Jesus accordingly exhibited after His death only the appearance of wounds received on the cross, and was not in reality so wounded as he is described to have been. Rather do I wish to show that Nature teaches this, that God made nothing that is mortal, but that his works, whatever they are, are immortal, while mortal things are the works of others, and the soul is a work of God, while the nature of the body is different. Even this statement, however, was borrowed from the Grecian sages, who declare that human wisdom is of one kind, and divine of another. . There is an authoritative account from the very beginning, respecting which there is a constant agreement among all the most learned nations, and cities, and men. The sun, moon, and stars do foretell rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunders, and lightnings, and fruits, and all manner of productions.
