Celsus
1) His Biography:
Second-century Greek philosopher Celsus (AD 175–177) opposed early Christianity. Only
excerpts from his literary work The True Word (also known as Account, Doctrine, or Discourse)
that were included in Origen of Alexandria’s 248 rebuttal Contra Celsum remain today. The
oldest known in-depth critique of Christianity is found in The True Word. Hanegraaff contends
that it was written soon after Justin Martyr’s passing (perhaps the first Christian apologist) and
was likely written in reaction to his writings. Origen claimed that Celsus was from the first half
of the second century AD, but most contemporary scholars now agree that he most likely wrote
between AD 170 and 180.
2) Main Work:
The True Word:
The True Word is a book written by Celsus. The book was eventually banned in 448 AD along
with Porphyrys 15 books attacking Christians, The Philosophy from Oracles, on the orders of
Valentinian III and Theodosius II, so no complete copies remain today. However, it can be
reconstructed from Origen’s detailed account of it in his 8 volume refutation, which extensively
quotes Celsus. Celsus’ work has been preserved because Origen’s writing has endured.
3) Main Themes:
The only information we have about Celsus personally comes from the text of his book that has
survived and from what Origen says about him. Although Origen originally refers to Celsus as an
Epicurean, his arguments actually more closely resemble those of the Platonic tradition. Origen
ascribed this to Celsus’ contradiction, but contemporary historians view it as proof that Celsus
was not at all an Epicurean. According to Joseph Wilson Trigg, Origen most likely mistook the
author of The True Word, Celsus, with another Celsus, an Epicurean philosopher and a
companion of the Syrian satire Lucian. Since Lucian mentions Celsus the Epicurean in his book
On Magic, he must have lived during the same period as the author of The True Word. Celsus
the author of The True Word and Celsus the friend of Lucian plainly shared a tremendous
fervour against superstition, making it even simpler to see how Origen could have come to that
conclusion.
Stephen Thomas claims that although Celsus was obviously familiar with Plato, he may not have
been a Platonist per se. The true philosophy of Celsus seems to be a synthesis of ideas from
Stoicism, Pythagoreanism, Aristotelianism, and Platonism. Wilken also comes to the conclusion
that Celsus was a philosophical eclectic, whose opinions represent a range of concepts that were
prevalent among several distinct schools. Celsus is categorised by Wilken as a “conservative
intellectual”, who notes that he accepted conventional norms and upholder conventional ideas.
Origen and Celsus actually concur on a number of issues, according to theologian Robert M.
Grant: "Both are opposed to anthropomorphism, to idolatry, and to any crudely literal theology.
Celsus also writes as a loyal citizen of the Roman Empire and a devoted believer in Greco-
Roman paganism, distrustful of Christianity as new and foreign.
Celsus, according to Thomas, “is no genius as a philosopher.” However, Thomas and the
majority of academics concur that Origen’s quotes from The True Word show how thoroughly
researched the work was. Celsus exhibits a thorough understanding of both Jewish and Christian
history, as well as the Old and New Testaments. Celsus was likewise well-versed in the literary
conventions of classical polemics. Celsus appears to have studied at least one text by a Christian
apologist from the second century, perhaps Justin Martyr or Aristides of Athens.
From this passage, Celsus appears to have understood the types of defences that Christians
would be most susceptible to. He also makes reference to the Ophites and Simonians, two
Gnostic groups that had all but disappeared by the time of Origen. An earlier anti-Christian
polemic authored by an unidentified Jewish author, whom Origen refers to as the “Jew of
Celsus” was one of Celsus’ principal sources for Books I–II of The True Word. Despite being
hostile to Judaism as well, this Jewish author also offers well-researched criticism of
Christianity, and Celsus occasionally draws from the arguments of this Jewish author.
4) Opposition to Chiristianity:
According to Celsus, the wisest nations, towns, and wise men have always upheld an ancient
doctrine [archaios logos] that has existed from the beginning. He excludes Jews and Moses from
the list of people he names (Egyptians, Syrians, Indians, Persians, Odrysians, Samothracians,
Eleusinians, Hyperboreans, Galactophagoi, Druids, and Getae), and instead blames Moses for the
degradation of the ancient religion: “the goatherds and shepherds who followed Moses as their
leader were deluded by clumsy deceits into thinking that there was only one God, [and] without
any rational cause … these goatherds and shepherds abandoned the worship of many gods”. The
Christians, who close themselves off and split away from the rest of mankind, were the target of
Celsus’ fiercest condemnation. Celsus launched a scathing critique of Christianity, mocking
many of its tenets. He said that some Jews believed Pantera, a Roman soldier, to be Jesus’
biological father. Origen believed that this was a made-up tale. Celsus also discussed Jesus’
miracles, asserting that “Jesus performed his miracles by sorcery.”
