The Word humbled himself but did not change
What came down to men existed “in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), and out of love for mankind “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7), so that he could be received by men. Surely no change from good to bad took place in him, for “he committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22); nor from beautiful to shameful, for he “knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Nor did he pass from happiness to misery: he “humbled himself” (Philippians 2:8), yet he was no less blessed, even while he humbled himself for the good of our race. Nor did any change take place in him from what is best to what is most wicked; for how can kindness and love for mankind be most wicked?
Or is it time to say that the physician too, who looks on dreadful sights and handles loathsome things in order to heal the sick, passes from good to bad, or from beautiful to shameful, or from happiness to misery? And yet the physician who looks on dreadful sights and handles loathsome things does not wholly escape the risk of falling into the same ills himself. But he who heals “the wounds” of our souls through the Word of God that was in him could himself admit no evil at all.
But if Celsus thinks that the immortal God the Word, by taking up a mortal body and a human soul, is altered and remoulded, let him learn that “the Word” (John 1:14), remaining Word in essence, suffers none of the things that the body or the soul suffers. Rather, coming down at times to one who cannot look upon the flashing radiance and brightness of his Godhead, he becomes as it were “flesh” (John 1:14), and is spoken in a bodily way, until the one who has received him in this form is lifted up little by little by the Word and becomes able to behold even his primary form, if I may call it that.
Greek
Τὸ δὲ καταβεβηκὸς εἰς ἀνθρώπους „ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ“ ὑπῆρχε καὶ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν „ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν,“ ἵνα χωρηθῆναι ὑπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων δυνηθῇ, οὐ δή που δ᾿ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν γέγονεν αὐτῷ μεταβολὴ, „ἁμαρτίαν“ γὰρ „οὐκ ἐποίησεν,“ „οὐδ᾿ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν, οὐ γὰρ ἔγνω „ἁμαρτίαν,“ οὐδὲ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας ἦλθεν εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν, ἀλλ᾿ „ἑαυτὸν“ μὲν „ἐταπείνωσεν“ οὐδὲν δ᾿ ἧττον μακάριος ἦν, καὶ ὅτε συμφερόντως τῷ γένει ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐταπείνου, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ μεταβολή τις αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἐκ τοῦ ἀρίστου εἰς τὸ πονηρότατον· ποῦ γὰρ πονηρότατον τὸ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον; ἢ ὥρα λέγειν καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ὁρῶντα δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνοντα ἀηδῶν, ἵνα τοὺς κάμνοντας ἰάσηται, ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν ἢ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν ἢ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν ἔρχεσθαι, καίτοι γε ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁρῶν τὰ δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνων τῶν ἀηδῶν οὐ πάντως ἐκφεύγει τὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς δύνασθαι περιπεσεῖν· ὁ δὲ „τὰ τραύματα“ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν θεραπεύων διὰ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λόγου θεοῦ αὐτὸς πάσης κακίας ἀπαράδεκτος ἦν, εἰ δὲ καὶ σῶμα θνητὸν καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀναλαβὼν ὁ ἀθάνατος θεὸς λόγος δοκεῖ τῷ Κέλσῳ ἀλλάττεσθαι καὶ μεταπλάττεσθαι, μανθανέτω ὅτι „ὁ λόγος“ τῇ οὐσίᾳ μένων λόγος οὐδὲν μὲν πάσχει ὧν πάσχει τὸ σῶμα ἢ ἡ ψυχὴ, συγκαταβαίνων δ᾿ ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε τῷ μὴ δυναμένῳ αὐτοῦ τὰς μαρμαρυγὰς καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς θειότητος βλέπειν οἱονεὶ „σὰρξ“ γίνεται, σωματικῶς λαλούμενος, ἕως ὁ τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν παραδεξάμενος κατὰ βραχὺ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου μετεωριζόμενος δυνηθῇ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν, ἵν᾿ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, προηγουμένην μορφὴν θεάσασθαι.