Not every sect quotes Paul
Since he says that “you will hear all those who are so far divided saying, ‘The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world’ ” (Galatians 6:14), we shall show that this too is false. For there are some sects that do not accept the epistles of Paul the apostle, such as the Ebionites of both kinds and those called Encratites. Those, then, who do not treat the apostle as a blessed and wise man would not say: “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). So in this too Celsus lies.
He also spends a long time denouncing the differences among the sects. But he does not seem to me at all to set out clearly what he says, nor to have studied these things carefully, nor to have understood how the Christians who are well grounded in the teachings say that they know more than the Jews, and whether they do so while accepting the books but giving their meaning a rival interpretation, or without even accepting the Jews’ writings. For we would find both among the sects.
After this he says: “Come, then: even if they have no basis for their doctrine, let us examine the teaching itself. But first we must speak of all the things they have misheard and corrupt through ignorance, since right from the start they speak with ill-judged arrogance about things they do not know. These are as follows.” And at once he sets passages from the philosophers against certain expressions that those who believe the Christians’ teaching use constantly. He wants to make out that whatever good things Celsus supposes are said among Christians have been said both better and more clearly by those who practise philosophy, so that he may draw away to philosophy those who are won over by doctrines that show at first sight what is noble and godly.
And so, bringing the fifth book to a close at this point, let us begin the sixth with what comes next.
Greek
Ἐπεὶ δέ φησιν ὅτι πάντων ἀκούσει τῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διεστηκότων λεγόντων τό· „ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ,“ καὶ τοῦτο ψεῦδος διελέγξομεν. εἰσὶ γάρ τινες αἱρέσεις τὰς Παύλου ἐπιστολὰς τοῦ ἀποστόλου μὴ προσιέμεναι, ὥσπερ Ἐβιωναῖοι ἀμφότεροι καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι Ἐγκρατηταί. οὐκ ἂν οὖν οἱ μὴ χρώμενοι τῷ ἀποστόλῳ ὡς μακαρίῳ τινὶ καὶ σοφῷ λέγοιεν τό· „ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ“· διὸ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὁ Κέλσος ψεύδεται. καὶ ἐπιδιατρίβει γε κατηγορῶν τῆς ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι διαφορᾶς· οὐ πάνυ δέ μοι δοκεῖ διαρθροῦν ἃ λέγει οὐδ᾿ ἐπιμελῶς αὐτὰ τεθεωρηκέναι οὐδὲ κατανενοηκέναι, πῶς πλεῖον Ἰουδαίων ἐπίστασθαι λέγουσιν ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις διαβεβηκότες Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ πότερον τοῖς μὲν βιβλίοις συγκατατιθέμενοι τὸν δὲ νοῦν ἀντεξηγούμενοι, ἢ οὐδὲ συγκατατιθέμενοι τοῖς ἐκείνων γράμμασιν· ἑκάτερα γὰρ εὕροιμεν ἂν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι. μετὰ ταῦτά φησι· φέρ᾿ οὖν, εἰ καὶ μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν τοῦ δόγματος ἔχουσιν, αὐτὸν ἐξετάσωμεν τὸν λόγον· πρότερον δὲ ὅσα παρακηκοότες ὑπ᾿ ἀγνοίας διαφθείρουσιν, οὐκ ἐμμελῶς ἐν ἀρχαῖς εὐθὺς ἀπαυθαδιαζόμενοι περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἴσασι, λεκτέον· ἔστι δὲ τάδε. καὶ εὐθέως λέξεσί τισι, τοῖς πιστεύουσι τῷ Χριστιανῶν λόγῳ συνεχῶς ὀνομαζομέναις, ἀντιπαρατίθησιν ἀπὸ τῶν φιλοσόφων, βουλόμενος τὰ καλὰ τῶν νομιζομένων Κέλσῳ παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς λέγεσθαι καὶ βέλτιον καὶ τρανότερον εἰρῆσθαι παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν, ἵνα περισπάσῃ ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν τοὺς ἁλισκομένους ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτόθεν ἐμφαινόντων δογμάτων τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ εὐσεβές. καὶ τὸν πέμπτον δὴ τόμον αὐτόθι καταπαύσαντες ἀρξώμεθα τοῦ ἕκτου ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς.