Against Celsus, Book III · §30 · Origen of Alexandria

The Church beside the city assembly

For the church of God at Athens, let us say, is a gentle and steady body, since it wishes to please the God over all; but the assembly of the Athenians is given to faction and can in no way be compared with the church of God there. You will say the same of the church of God at Corinth and the assembly of the people of Corinth, and, let us say, of the church of God at Alexandria and the assembly of the people of Alexandria. And if the one who hears this is fair-minded and examines the facts with a love of truth, he will marvel at him who both planned and was able to bring about the founding of churches of God everywhere, churches that live as sojourners beside the assemblies of the people in each city.

So too, if you compare the council of the church of God with the council in each city, you would find that some councillors of the church are worthy to hold citizenship in the city of God, if there is such a city anywhere in the universe, while the city councillors everywhere bring, in their own characters, nothing worthy of the pre-eminence their appointment gives them, by which they seem to stand above the citizens. So too the ruler of the church in each city must be compared with the ruler of the people in that city, so that you may perceive that, even among those councillors and rulers of the church of God who fall far short, and who live more carelessly than those of more vigorous life, it is nonetheless possible to find, as a general rule, a superiority in progress toward the virtues over the characters of those who sit as councillors and rulers in the cities.

Greek

Ἐκκλησία μὲν γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ, φέρ᾿ εἰπεῖν, ἡ Ἀθήνῃσι πρᾳεῖά τις καὶ εὐσταθὴς, ἅτε θεῷ ἀρέσκειν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι βουλομένη· ἡ δ᾿ Ἀθηναίων ἐκκλησία στασιώδης καὶ οὐδαμῶς παραβαλλομένη τῇ ἐκεῖ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ. τὸ δ᾿ αὐτὸ ἐρεῖς περὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Κορίνθῳ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ δήμου Κορινθίων καὶ, φέρ᾿ εἰπεῖν, περὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Ἀλεξανδρέων δήμου. καὶ ἐὰν εὐγνώμων ᾖ ὁ τούτου ἀκούων καὶ φιλαλήθως ἐξετάζῃ τὰ πράγματα, θαυμάσεται τὸν καὶ βουλευσάμενον καὶ ἀνύσαι δυνηθέντα πανταχοῦ συστήσασθαι ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ, παροικούσας ἐκκλησίαις τῶν καθ᾿ ἑκάστην πόλιν δήμων. οὕτω δὲ καὶ βουλὴν ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ βουλῇ τῇ καθ᾿ ἑκάστην πόλιν συνεξετάζων εὕροις ἂν, τίνες μὲν τῆς ἐκκλησίας βουλευταὶ ἄξιοί εἰσιν, εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ παντὶ πόλις τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐν ἐκείνῃ πολιτεύεσθαι· οἱ δὲ πανταχοῦ βουλευταὶ οὐδὲν ἄξιον τῆς ἐκ κατατάξεως ὑπεροχῆς, ἣν ὑπερέχειν δοκοῦσι τῶν πολιτῶν, φέρουσιν ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἤθεσιν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐκκλησίας ἑκάστης πόλεως ἄρχοντι τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει συγκριτέον· ἵνα κατανοήσῃς ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν σφόδρα ἀποτυγχανομένων βουλευτῶν καὶ ἀρχόντων ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ καὶ ῥᾳθυμότερον παρὰ τοὺς εὐτονωτέρως βιούντων οὐδὲν (??)ττον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ὡς ἐπίπαν ὑπεροχὴν τὴν ἐν τῇ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς προκοπῇ παρὰ τὰ ἤθη τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι βουλευόντων καὶ ἀρχόντων.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Origen answers the charges Celsus makes in his own voice: that Jews and Christians quarrel over an ass’s shadow, that the Church began in revolt and splits into sects, and that Jesus is no greater than the heroes and wonder-workers of the Greeks. He then defends the Gospel’s call to sinners and the unlearned, showing that Christians welcome the wise as well and lead each hearer from healing to the deeper teaching.

Translated from the Greek of Koetschau, GCS 2–3 (1899), via the Perseus digital text, which serves as the base text. Each chapter was translated from the Greek and then checked clause by clause against it in an independent review. No earlier English translation was consulted.

Printed text used

Translated from Koetschau GCS 2 – 3 (1899) — Greek (Greek · Book III, chapters 1 – 81)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake