Against Celsus, Book III · §77 · Origen of Alexandria

Who is really blind

After this he likens the teacher to a man with diseased eyes and the learners to people with diseased eyes, and says that this man, among those whose eyes are diseased, charges the keen-sighted with being blind. Which Greeks, then, would we say do not see, in our view, if not those who, from the vast magnitude of the things in the world and the beauty of what has been created (Wisdom of Solomon 13:5), cannot look up and see that one must worship, admire and revere Him alone who made these things, and that nothing made by human beings and used in honour of gods could rightly be revered, whether apart from God the Creator or together with Him? For to compare things that admit of no comparison at all with the infinite One, who surpasses all created nature beyond measure, is the work of those whose minds are blind.

We do not, then, say that the keen-sighted have diseased eyes or are blind. Rather we declare that those who, in ignorance of God, wallow in temples and statues and what are called holy festivals have been blinded in mind; above all when, besides their impiety, they also live in licentiousness, not even seeking what deed might be honourable, but doing everything that deserves shame.

Greek

Μετὰ ταῦτ᾿ ἐξομοιοῖ τὸν μὲν διδάσκοντα ὀφθαλμιῶντι τοὺς δὲ μανθάνοντας ὀφθαλμιῶσι καί φησι τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμιώντων αἰτιᾶσθαι τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας ὡς πεπηρωμένους. τίνες οὖν † εἴποιμεν Ἕλληνες οἱ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς οὐ βλέποντες ἢ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ τηλικούτου μεγέθους τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν δημιουργημάτων μὴ δυνάμενοι ἀναβλέψαι καὶ θεωρῆσαι ὅτι προσκυνεῖν καὶ θαυμάζειν καὶ σέβειν χρὴ μόνον τὸν ταῦτα πεποιηκότα, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν παρ᾿ ἀνθρώποις κατασκευαζομένων καὶ εἰς θεῶν τιμὴν παραλαμβανομένων καθηκόντως ἄν τις σέβοι. εἴτε χωρὶς τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεοῦ εἴτε καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκείνου; τὰ γὰρ οὐδαμῶς συγκριτὰ συγκρίνειν τῷ ἀπείρῳ, ὑπεροχῇ ὑπερέχοντι πάσης γενητῆς φύσεως. τυφλῶν τὴν διάνοιάν ἐστιν ἔργον. οὐκ ὀφθαλμιῶντας οὖν τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας λέγομεν εἶναι ἢ πεπηρωμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καλινδουμένους ἀγνοίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰς λεγομένας ἱερομηνίας φάσκομεν τετυφλῶσθαι τὸν νοῦν· καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε πρὸς τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ζῶσιν, ὅ τι ποτ᾿ ἐστὶν αἰδέσιμον ἔργον μηδὲ ζητοῦντες ἀλλὰ πάντ᾿ αἰσχύνης ἄξια πράττοντες.

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