Cleomedes and the chest
Celsus showed that he had read a good many Greek stories when he also cited the tale of Cleomedes of Astypalaea. He related that Cleomedes got into a chest and, though shut inside it, was not found within, but by some supernatural fate had flown out of it, when some men broke the chest open to seize him. If this too is a fiction, as it seems to be, it cannot be compared with the accounts of Jesus. For in the case of those men no token of the divinity reported of them is found in the life of men; but in the case of Jesus there are the churches of those who are helped, the prophecies spoken about him, the healings done in his name, and the knowledge joined with wisdom that comes from him, and the reasoned understanding found among those who have taken care to rise above bare faith and to search out the meaning in the divine Scriptures. They do this following the counsel of Jesus, who said, “Search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), and the wish of Paul, who taught that we must “know how to answer each one” as is fitting (Colossians 4:6), and of him also who said, “Always be ready to make a defence to everyone who asks you for a reason for the faith that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
But if Celsus wants it granted that the story is not a fiction, let him say for what purpose the power that is above man made Cleomedes fly out of the chest by some supernatural fate. For if he can present something worth mentioning, and show that a purpose worthy of God bestowed such a thing on Cleomedes, we shall judge what we ought to say in reply to him. But if he is at a loss to say anything even plausible on the point, then plainly, so far as no reason is to be found, we shall either discredit the story, siding with those who did not accept it, and charge it with being untrue, or we shall say that something demonic, like the illusions that sorcerers display by deceiving the eyes, did this also in the case of the man from Astypalaea, about whom Celsus supposes that an oracle declared that he had flown out of the chest by some supernatural fate.
Greek
Ἔδειξε δ᾿ ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι πλείονας ἀνέγνω ἱστορίας Ἑλληνικὰς, παραθέμενος καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἀστυπαλαιέως Κλεομήδους· ὃν ἱστόρησεν εἰς κιβωτὸν καταδύντα καὶ ἔνδοθεν αὐτῆς εἰλημμένον μὴ εὑρῆσθαι ἔνδον· ἀλλ᾿ ἔκτοθι δαιμονίᾳ τινὶ μοίρᾳ διαπτῆναι, ἡνίκα ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτὸν συλλαβεῖν διέκοψάν τινες τὴν κιβωτόν. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ εἰ μὲν πλάσμα ἐστὶν, ὥσπερ ἔοικεν εἶναι πλάσμα, οὐ παραβάλλεται τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἐπείπερ ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδὲν τῆς ἱστορουμένης θειότητος ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων σύμβολον εὑρίσκεται, τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ αἱ τῶν ὠφελουμένων ἐκκλησίαι καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτοῦ λελεγμέναι προφητεῖαι καὶ αἱ ἐν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ γινόμεναι θεραπεῖαι καὶ ἡ κατ᾿ αὐτὸν μετὰ σοφίας γνῶσις καὶ λόγος εὑρισκόμενος παρὰ τοῖς φροντίσασιν ἀναβῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ψιλῆς πίστεως, ἐρευνῆσαι δὲ τὸν ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς νοῦν κατὰ τὰς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὑποθήκας εἰπόντος· „ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφὰς,“ καὶ κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ διδάξαντος Παύλου δεῖν „εἰδέναι“ ἡμᾶς „ἑκάστῳ“ κατὰ τὸ δέον „ἀποκρίνεσθαι.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ἕτοιμοι ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀπολογίαν παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντι ὑμᾶς λόγον περὶ τῆς ἐν ὑμῖν πίστεως.“ εἰ δὲ βούλεται αὐτὸς συγχωρεῖσθαι μὴ εἶναι πλάσμα. λεγέτω. τί βουλομένη ἡ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον δύναμις πεποίηκεν ἔκτοθι τῆς κιβωτοῦ δαιμονίᾳ τινὶ μοίρᾳ διαπτῆναι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀξιόλογόν τι παραστήσει καὶ βούλημα θεοῦ ἄξιον τὸ δωρησάμενον τὸ τοιοῦτον τῷ Κλεομήδει, κρινοῦμεν, τί χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτόν· εἰ δ᾿ ἀπορήσει κἂν πιθανόν τι εἰς τὸν τόπον λέγειν. δηλονότι τὸ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι λόγον, ἤτοι διαβαλοῦμεν τοῖς αὐτὴν μὴ παραδεξαμένοις καὶ ἐγκαλέσομεν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ὡς οὐκ ἀληθεῖ, ἢ δαιμόνιόν τι φήσομεν παραπλήσιον τοῖς ἐπιδεικνυμένοις γόησιν ἀπάτῃ ὀφθαλμῶν πεποιηκέναι καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἀστυπαλαιέα· περὶ οὗ οἴεται ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι θεοπρόπιόν τι ἐθέσπισεν. ὡς ἄρα μοίρᾳ τινὶ δαιμονίᾳ διέπτη ἀπὸ τῆς κιβωτοῦ.