Faith with reasons, suited to each hearer
Then he says: “You see how Plato, though he has firmly declared that it cannot be ‘spoken,’ nevertheless, so as not to seem to take refuge in what cannot be examined, gives a reasoned account of this difficulty; for perhaps even ‘nothing’ could be ‘spoken.’” But since he brings this forward to establish that one must not simply believe but must give a reasoned account of what is believed, we too shall use the saying of Paul that rebukes the one who believes rashly, in which he says, “unless you believed rashly” (1 Corinthians 15:2).
As far as it rests with him, Celsus, by repeating himself, forces us to repeat ourselves. After the boasts he has already described, as though they were the boasts of impostors, he says that Plato does not boast and lie by claiming that he himself has discovered something new, or that he has come from heaven to announce it, but admits where these things come from.
Anyone who wished to answer Celsus might say in reply that Plato too boasts, in the speech of Zeus in the Timaeus, where he says, “Gods of gods, whose maker and father I am” (Plato, Timaeus 41a), and the rest. But if someone defends these words by appeal to the meaning of the Zeus who makes the speech in Plato, why should not one who examines the meaning of the words of the Son of God, or of the Creator’s words in the prophets, say something even greater than the speech of Zeus in the Timaeus? For what marks out divinity is the foretelling of things to come, things spoken not by the power of human nature and shown by their outcome to have been announced by a divine Spirit.
So we do not say to everyone who comes to us, “First believe that the one I am introducing to you is the Son of God.” Rather, we bring the word to each person in the way that suits his character and condition, for we have learned “to know how we ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). There are some to whom we preach this, since they can do no more than be urged to believe; to others we come, as far as we can, with proof by way of questions and answers.
Nor do we say what Celsus said in mockery: “Believe that the one I am introducing to you is the Son of God, even though he was bound in the most dishonourable way or punished in the most shameful way, even though only yesterday or the day before he was knocked about most disgracefully before the eyes of all.” Nor do we say, “For this reason believe all the more.” For on each of these points we try to say even more than we have set out above.
Greek
Εἶτά φησιν ὅτι ὁρᾷς ὅπως Πλάτων, καίτοι διαβεβαιωσάμενος ὅτι „ῥητὸν“ οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅμως, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ἀνεξέλεγκτον ἀναχωρεῖν δόξῃ, λογισμὸν ὑπέχει ταύτης τῆς ἀπορίας· εἴη γὰρ ἂν τυχὸν „ῥητὸν“ καὶ τὸ μηδέν. ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεὶ τοῦτο φέρει εἰς κατασκευὴν τοῦ δεῖν μὴ ἁπλῶς πιστεύειν ἀλλὰ λογισμὸν ὑπέχειν τῶν πιστευομένων, χρησόμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦ Παύλου λέξει ἐγκαλούσῃ τῷ εἰκῇ πιστεύοντι, ἐν ᾗ φησιν· „ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ εἰκῇ ἐπιστεύσατε.“ τὸ ὅσον δ᾿ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ ἀναγκάζει ἡμᾶς ταυτολογεῖν ταυτολογῶν ὁ Κέλσος, λέγων μετὰ τὰς εἰρημένας ὥσπερ ἀλαζόνων ἀλαζονείας ὅτι ὁ Πλάτων οὐκ ἀλαζονεύεται καὶ ψεύδεται φάσκων αὐτὸς καινόν τι εὑρίσκειν ἢ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ παρὼν ἀγγέλλειν, ἀλλ᾿ ὁπόθεν ἐστὶ ταῦθ᾿ ὁμολογεῖ. εἴποι ἄν τις οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα. βουλόμενος ἀπαντᾶν τῷ Κέλσῳ, ὅτι καὶ Πλάτων ἀλαζονεύεται ἐν τῇ τοῦ Διὸς κατὰ τὸν Τίμαιον δημηγορίᾳ λέγων· „θεοὶ θεῶν, ὧν ἐγὼ δημιουργὸς καὶ πατὴρ“, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ἀλλ᾿ εἰ ἀπολογήσεταί τις περὶ τούτων διὰ τὸν νοῦν τοῦ δημηγοροῦντος παρὰ τῷ Πλάτωνι Διὸς, διὰ τί ὁ ἐξετάζων τὸν νοῦν τῶν λόγων τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις τοῦ δημιουργοῦ οὐχὶ καὶ πλεῖόν τι ἐρεῖ παρὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ τοῦ Διὸς δημηγορίαν; τὸ γὰρ χαρακτηρίζον τὴν θεότητα ἡ περὶ μελλόντων ἐστὶν ἀπαγγελία, οὐ κατ᾿ ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν λεγομένων καὶ ταῖς ἐκβάσεσι κρινομένων ὅτι θεῖον πνεῦμα ἦν τὸ ταῦτα ἀπαγγέλλον. οὐ πρὸς πάντα οὖν τὸν προσιόντα φαμὲν ὅτι πρῶτον πίστευσον ὃν εἰσηγοῦμαί σοι τοῦτον εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ πρέπον αὐτοῦ τῷ ἤθει καὶ τῇ καταστάσει προσάγομεν τὸν λόγον, μαθόντες „εἰδέναι, πῶς δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ἀποκρίνασθαι.“ καὶ εἰσὶν οἷς πλεῖον μὴ δυναμένοις τοῦ προτραπῆναι εἰς τὸ πιστεύειν τοῦτο κηρύττομεν, ἄλλοις δὲ ὅση δύναμις ἀποδεικτικῶς δι᾿ ἐρωτήσεων καὶ ἀποκρίσεων προσερχόμεθα. ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ λέγομεν τὸ μετὰ χλεύης ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου εἰρημένον. ὅτι πίστευσον ὃν εἰσηγοῦμαί σοι τοῦτον εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ, κἂν ᾖ δεδεμένος ἀτιμότατα ἢ κεκολασμένος αἴσχιστα, κἂν χθὲς καὶ πρώην ἐν τοῖς πάντων ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπονειδιστότατα κεκαλινδημένος. οὐδέ φαμεν· ταύτῃ καὶ μᾶλλον πίστευσον. εἰς ἕκαστον γὰρ πειρώμεθα λέγειν καὶ πλείονα ὧν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἐξεθέμεθα.