A word that could not be stopped
Anyone who examines the facts will see that Jesus dared things beyond human nature, and that, having dared them, he accomplished them. From the beginning everyone worked against the sowing of his word through the whole world: the emperors of each age, the commanders-in-chief and governors under them, and, one might say, all who had been entrusted with any power whatever, as well as the magistrates of the cities, the soldiers and the common people. Yet his word prevailed, for as the word of God it is not of a nature to be hindered. Having proved stronger than so many opponents, it won the mastery over all Greece and, more widely still, over the barbarian world, and it turned countless souls to the worship of God that it teaches.
Since the unlearned and the rustic far outnumber those trained in learning, it was inevitable that, in a multitude won over by the word, the unlearned and rustic would far outnumber the more intelligent. But Celsus would not consider this. He thinks that the word’s love for humankind, which reaches every soul “from the rising of the sun” (compare Malachi 1:11; Psalm 113:3), is an unlearned thing, and that because it is unlearned and has no power at all in argument, it has won over only the unlearned. And yet even he does not say that the word has brought only the unlearned to the worship of God taught by Jesus; for he admits that among them there are some who are moderate, fair-minded and intelligent, and ready to read things as allegory.
Greek
Ἐξετάζων δέ τις τὰ πράγματα ὄψεται ὅτι μείζω τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἐτόλμησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ τολμήσας ἤνυσε. πάντων γὰρ ἀρχῆθεν ἀντιπραττόντων τῷ σπαρῆναι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν ὅλην οἰκουμένην, τῶν τε κατὰ καιροὺς βασιλέων καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἀρχιστρατήγων καὶ ἡγεμόνων πάντων τε ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τῶν ἡντινοῦν ἐξουσίαν ἐγκεχειρισμένων ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἀρχόντων καὶ στρατικῶν καὶ δήμων, ἐνίκησε μὴ πεφυκὼς κωλύεσθαι ὡς λόγος θεοῦ. καὶ γενόμενος τοσούτων ἀνταγωνιστῶν ἰσχυρότερος πάσης μὲν Ἑλλάδος ἐπὶ πλεῖον δὲ τῆς βαρβάρου ἐκράτησε καὶ μετεποίησε μυρίας ὅσας ψυχὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κατ᾿ αὐτὸν θεοσέβειαν. ἀναγκαῖον δ᾿ ἦν ἐν πλήθει κρατουμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου, ὧν πολλαπλασίους οἱ ἰδιῶται καὶ ἀγροικότεροι τῶν ἐν λόγοις γεγυμνασμένων, πολλαπλασίους γενέσθαι τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ ἀγροικοτέρους τῶν συνετωτέρων. ἀλλὰ μὴ βουληθεὶς ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος κατανοῆσαι, τὴν τοῦ λόγου φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ φθάνουσαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν („ἀπὸ) ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου“ οἴεται εἶναι ἰδιωτικὴν. διὰ τὸ ἰδιωτικὸν καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐν λόγοις δυνατὸν ἰδιωτῶν μόνων κρατήσασαν, καίτοι οὐδ᾿ αὐτὸς ἰδιώτας μόνους φησὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου προσῆχθαι τῇ κατὰ Ἰησοῦν θεοσεβείᾳ· ὁμολογεῖ γὰρ καὶ μετρίους καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς καὶ συνετούς τινας καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἀλληγορίαν ἑτοίμους εἶναι ἐν αὐτοῖς.