Celsus turns to the prophets
Celsus now sets out to attack the teaching which says that the things concerning Christ Jesus were foretold by the prophets among the Jews. And first, at the very start, we examine his view that those who bring in another god besides the God of the Jews can give no answer at all to his objections, while we, who have kept to the same God, take refuge in the defence drawn from the prophecies about Christ.
On this he says: “Let us see how they will find a way out. Those who bring in another god will find none; and those who keep the same God will once more say the same thing, that famous piece of wisdom, that it had to happen this way. And the proof? These things had been foretold long ago.”
To this we shall say that what he said a little earlier about Jesus and the Christians is so weak that even those who bring in another god, and do so impiously, could very easily answer what Celsus says. And if it were not improper to give the weaker an opening for accepting worse doctrines, we too would have done this, to prove false his claim that those who bring in another god have no defence against what Celsus has said. But as it is, come, let us make our defence about the prophets, in addition to what we have said above.
Greek
Πρόκειται δὲ νῦν τῷ Κέλσῳ κατηγορῆσαι τοῦ φάσκοντος λόγου ὑπὸ τῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις προφητῶν προφητεύεσθαι τὰ περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν. καὶ πρῶτόν γε κατ᾿ ἀρχὰς ἐξετάζομεν ὧν οἴεται τοὺς μὲν ἄλλον εἰσηγουμένους θεὸν παρὰ τὸν Ἰουδαίων θεὸν μηδαμῶς δύνασθαι ἀπαντᾶν πρὸς τὰς ἐπαπορήσεις αὐτοῦ, ἡμᾶς δὲ, τοὺς τὸν αὐτὸν τηρήσαντας θεὸν, καταφεύγειν ἐπὶ τὴν διὰ τῶν προφητευομένων περὶ Χριστοῦ ἀπολογίαν. καί φησι πρὸς ταῦτα· ἴδωμεν ὅπῃ ἐφευρήσουσι παραίτησιν· οἱ μὲν ἄλλον εἰσηγούμενοι θεὸν οὐδεμίαν, οἱ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν αὖθις τὸ αὐτὸ ἐροῦσιν, ἐκεῖνο δὴ τὸ σοφὸν, ὅτι ἐχρῆν οὕτως γενέσθαι· τεκμήριον δὲ, πάλαι γὰρ ταῦτα προείρητο. φήσομεν δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀσθενῆ τὰ εἰρημένα περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χριστιανῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀλίγῳ πρὸ τούτων, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλον εἰσηγουμένους θεὸν καὶ τοῦτο πράττοντας ἀσεβῶς εὐχερέστατα ὑπαν τῆσαι πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου λεγόμενα. καὶ εἰ μὴ ἄτοπον ἦν ἀφορμὰς διδόναι τοῖς ἀσθενεστέροις πρὸς παραδοχὴν χειρόνων δογμάτων, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἂν τοῦτο πεποιήκειμεν, ἵν᾿ ἐλέγξωμεν ψεῦδος τὸ περὶ τοῦ τοὺς ἄλλον εἰσηγουμένους θεὸν μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ἀπολογίαν πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου λελεγμένα· νυνὶ δὲ ἡμεῖς φέρε περὶ τῶν προφητῶν πρὸς τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρημένοις ἀπολογησώμεθα.