32); Marie,
_Histoire des sciences_, viii. 30; Poggendorff s _Biog.-literarisches
Handworterbuch_.

CELSUS (c. A.D. 178), a 2nd-century opponent of Christianity, known to
us mainly through the reputation of his literary work, _The True Word_
(or _Account_; [Greek: alethes logos]), published by Origen in 248,
seventy years after its composition. In that year, though the Church was
under no direct threat of attack, owing to the inertia of the emperor
Philip the Arabian, the atmosphere was full of conflict. The empire was
celebrating the l000th anniversary of its birth, and imperial
aspirations and ideas were naturally prominent. Over against the state
and the worship of the Caesar stood as usual the Christian ideal of a
rule and a citizenship not of this world, to which a thousand years were
but as a day. A supernatural pride was blended with a natural anxiety,
and it was at this juncture that Origen brought to light again a book
written in the days of Marcus Aurelius, which but for the great
Alexandrian might have been lost for ever. Sometimes quoting, sometimes
paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, he reproduces and replies to
all Celsus's arguments. His work shows many signs of haste, but he more
than compensates for this by the way in which he thus preserves a
singularly interesting memorial of the 2nd century. When we remember
that only about one-tenth of the _True Word_ is really lost and that
about three-quarters of what we have is verbatim text, it would be
ungracious to carp at the method.

The argument

Celsus opens the way for his own attack by rehearsing the taunts
levelled at the Christians by the Jews. Jesus was born in adultery and
nurtured on the wisdom of Egypt. His assertion of divine dignity is
disproved by his poverty and his miserable end. Christians have no
standing in the Old Testament prophecies, and their talk of a
resurrection that was only revealed to some of their own adherents is
foolishness. Celsus indeed says that the Jews are almost as ridiculous
as the foes they attack; the latter said the saviour from Heaven had
come, the former still looked for his coming. However, the Jews have
the advantage of being an ancient nation with an ancient faith. The
idea of an Incarnation of God is absurd; why should the human race
think itself so superior to bees, ants and elephants as to be put in
this unique relation to its maker? And why should God choose