CELSUS (c. A.D. 178), an eclectic Platonist and opponent of Christianity known mainly through the reputation of his work, The True Word (or Account; aX r1Ot s Xh yos), brought to light in 248 by Origen who in his Against Celsus quotes, paraphrases and reproduces about nine-tenths of it. On internal evidence the work seems to be of Alexandrian origin and to date between 176-180.
Its attack on Christianity is opened by a rehearsal of Jewish taunts levelled at the Christians. Jesus was the natural son of Mary and Joseph. He did not convince even His own countrymen. His companions as well as His poverty were inconsistent with divine dignity. The Incarnation is absurd, for God stands in no special relation to man as against animals. Christ's miracles, like His resurrection, were inventions of His disciples. The Christians lack unity among themselves and their teachers have no power over educated men. Their doctrine comes from Plato and the Stoics, especially their belief in the future life and the spirituality of God. Their resurrection of the body is a corruption of the doctrine of transmigration and ignores the fact that matter is evil. Celsus ends his work by inviting the Christians to join the religion of the majority, to become good citizens, to give thanks to the powers of nature and to abandon the idea of establishing the universal rule of their doctrines. His work, which shows the strength of the Church in his day, is conspicuous for its lack of bitterness against the Christians, its recognition of the abuses of paganism, and its knowledge of the Old Testament and the Synoptic Gospels and also of the gnostic writings. Echoes of it are found in Tertullian and Minucius Felix (q.v.), but it lay forgotten until Origen gave it new life.
Celsus was not a professed philosopher but a man of the world whose religion was the empire. His keen mind combined an intimate knowledge and appreciation of the various national re ligions and mythologies with many genuine moral convictions as well as a sceptical tendency. For him, philosophy alone could impart some notion of the Father of the universe, a notion which the elect soul must develop.