Against Celsus, Book V · §13 · Origen of Alexandria

The stars await the freedom of God’s children

Celsus takes it for granted that we hold the sun, the moon and the stars to be “nothing”. About them we confess that they too wait for “the revelation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19), being subjected for the present to “the futility” of material bodies “because of him who subjected them in hope” (Romans 8:20).

If Celsus had read the countless other things we say about the sun, the moon and the stars, and the words “Praise him, all you stars and light” (Psalm 148:3) and “Praise him, you heavens of heavens” (Psalm 148:4), he would not have declared of us that we say these great beings, which praise God greatly, are “nothing”. Nor does Celsus know the words: “For the eager longing of the creation waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19–21).

With this, then, let our defence for not revering the sun, the moon and the stars come to an end. Let us also set out his next passage, so that afterwards, God granting, we may say in reply to it whatever will be given us from the light of the truth.

Greek

Ἑαυτῷ δὲ λαμβάνει Κέλσος ὅτι ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τὸ μηδέν. περὶ ὧν ὁμολογοῦμεν ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ „τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ“ ἀπεκδέχονται, „τῇ“ τῶν ὑλικῶν σωμάτων „ματαιότητι“ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ὑποτεταγμένοι, „διὰ τὸν ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι ὑποτάξαντα.“ εἰ δ᾿ ἀνεγνώκει ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ἄλλα μὲν μυρία. ὅσα περὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων φαμὲν, καὶ τὸ „αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὸ φῶς“ καὶ τὸ „αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν,“ οὐκ ἂν περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπεφήνατο ὅτι λέγομεν τὰ τηλικαῦτα, αἰνοῦντα μεγάλως τὸν θεὸν, εἶναι τὸ μηδέν. οὐκ οἶδε δ᾿ ὁ Κέλσος οὐδὲ τὸ „ἡ γὰρ ἀποκαραδοκία τῆς κτίσεως τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται. τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ.“ καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὴ τέλος ἐχέτω ἡ περὶ τοῦ μὴ σέβειν ἡμᾶς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας ἀπολογία. ἐκθώμεθα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς λέξιν, ἵνα μετὰ τοῦτο πρὸς αὐτὴν θεοῦ διδόντος εἴπωμεν τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας φωτὸς δοθησόμενα ἡμῖν.

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About this text

Origen answers Celsus’s claim that no God or Son of God has come down to men, shows why Christians worship God alone and not angels or the stars, and defends the hope of the resurrection against the charge that it is “the hope of worms.” He then rejects Celsus’s case that each nation should keep its own ancestral laws, and answers his mockery of the angels at Jesus’ tomb and of the many Christian sects.

Base text: Paul Koetschau's Greek, GCS 2–3 (1899), via the Perseus digital text. All 65 chapters of Book V were translated from the Greek in two passes (a literal gloss with key Greek words, then reading English), and every clause was then checked against the Greek in a separate review. Doubtful readings in the Greek are recorded in the translator's notes.

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Translated from Koetschau GCS 2 – 3 (1899) — Greek (Greek · Book V, chapters 1 – 65)

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.

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