The power of the apostles’ words
Still, that the order, composition and style of philosophical discourses should have done such things for the men just named and for others who had lived badly is not very surprising. But when we consider the words that Celsus calls unlearned, filled with power as though they were charms, and observe those words urging whole multitudes at once to pass from licentiousness to the steadiest of lives, from injustice to a better life, and from cowardice or unmanliness to such firmness that they despise even death because of the piety that has shown itself in them, how shall we not rightly marvel at the power within it?
For "the word" of those who first served as ambassadors of these things and laboured to found churches of God, and their "preaching" as well, came with persuasion, but not the kind of persuasion found in those who profess the wisdom of Plato or of any other philosopher, men who had nothing beyond human nature. But the demonstration given by God in the apostles of Jesus was persuasive, coming "from the Spirit and power" (1 Corinthians 2:4). That is why their word, or rather the Word of God, ran with the utmost speed and keenness, changing through them many of those naturally inclined to sin and accustomed to it. No human being could have changed them, not even by punishing them; but the Word remade them, forming and shaping them according to his own will.
Greek
Ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν τάξιν καὶ σύνθεσιν καὶ φράσιν τῶν ἀπὸ φιλοσοφίας λόγων τοιαῦτα εἰς τοὺς προειρημένους πεποιηκέναι. καὶ ἄλλως κακῶς βεβιωκότας. οὐ πάνυ τι θαυμαστόν. ἐπὰν δὲ οὕς φησιν εἶναι ἰδιωτικοὺς λόγους ὁ Κέλσος κατανοήσωμεν, ὡσπερεὶ ἐπῳδὰς δυνάμεως πεπληρωμένους, καὶ τοὺς λόγους θεωρῶμεν, ἀθρόως προτρέποντας πλήθη ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀκολάστων εἰς τὸν εὐσταθέστατον βίον καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀδίκων εἰς τὸν χρηστότερον καὶ τὸν ἐκ δειλῶν ἢ ἀνάνδρων εἰς τὸν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εὔτονον, ὡς καὶ θανάτου διὰ τὴν φανεῖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς εὐσέβειαν καταφρονεῖν· πῶς οὐχὶ δικαίως θαυμάσομεν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ δύναμιν; „ὁ“ γὰρ „λόγος“ τῶν ταῦτα τὴν ἀρχὴν πρεσβευσάντων καὶ καμόντων, ἵνα συστήσωσιν ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ „τὸ κήρυγμα“ αὐτῶν ἐν πειθοῖ μὲν γέγονεν οὐ τοιαύτῃ δὲ, ὁποία ἐστὶ πειθὼ ἐν τοῖς σοφίαν Πλάτωνος ἐπαγγελλομένοις ἤ τινος τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων. ὄντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἐχόντων· ἡ δ᾿ ἀπόδειξις ἐν τοῖς Ἰησοῦ ἀποστόλοις θεόθεν δοθεῖσα πιστικὴ ἀπὸ „πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως.“ διόπερ τάχιστα καὶ ὀξύτατα ἔδραμεν ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ, δι᾿ αὐτῶν μεταβάλλων πολλοὺς τῶν ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκότων καὶ εἰθισμένων· οὓς οὐδὲ κολάζων μὲν ἄν τις ἄνθρωπος μετέβαλεν, ὁ δὲ λόγος μετεποίησε μορφώσας καὶ τυπώσας αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ βούλημα.