We feast with angels, not demons
The psalmist bears witness that by divine judgment the grimmer things are carried out by certain evil angels, when he says: “He sent upon them the wrath of his anger, anger and wrath and affliction, a mission by evil angels” (Psalm 78:49). If anything else besides these also happens when the demons are given leave, since they always wish to do such things but cannot always do them because they are restrained, let whoever is able examine it, picturing the divine judgment, so far as human nature can, concerning the release of many souls from the body all at once, by such roads as lead to that death which is neither good nor evil.
For “great are the judgments of God,” and because of their greatness they cannot be grasped by a mind still bound to a mortal body; that is why they are also “hard to describe” (Wisdom of Solomon 17:1), and to uninstructed souls they cannot be seen in even the smallest measure. That is also why the more rash, through their ignorance of these matters and the scrutiny their rashness turns upon the divine, add to the impious doctrines against providence.
We do not, then, receive from demons each of the things that serve the needs of life, especially those of us who have learned to use them as we ought. Nor do those who partake of bread and wine and fruits and water and air feast with demons, but rather with divine angels appointed over such things. These angels are, as it were, invited to the table of the pious man who has heard the word that teaches such things as this: “Whether you eat or drink or do anything, do all things to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). And again in another place it is written: “Whether you eat or drink,” do all things “in the name” of God (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
So when we eat and drink and breathe “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and do all things according to the word, we feast with none of the demons, but with the divine angels. For “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4–5). But it would not be “good,” nor could it be sanctified, if, as Celsus thinks, these things had been assigned to demons.
Greek
Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς τῷ, ὅτι θείᾳ κρίσει αὐτουργεῖται τὰ σκυθρωπότερα ὑπό τινων πονηρῶν ἀγγέλων. ἐν τῷ „ἀπέστειλεν εἰς αὐτοὺς ὀργὴν θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ, θυμὸν καὶ ὀργὴν καὶ θλῖψιν ἀποστολὴν δι᾿ ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν.” εἰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τι παρὰ ταῦτα γίνεται, ὅθ᾿ οἱ δαίμονες ἐπιτρέπονται, ἀεὶ μὲν βουλόμενοι ταῦτα ποιεῖν οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ δυνάμενοι διὰ τὸ κωλύεσθαι. ὁ δυνάμενος ἐξεταζέτω, τὴν θείαν κρίσιν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει φανταζόμενος περὶ ἀθρόας πολλῶν ψυχῶν ἀπαλλαγῆς ἀπὸ σώματος, τοιαῖσδε ταῖς ἐπὶ τὸν μέσον θάνατον φερούσαις ὁδοῖς χρωμένων. καὶ γὰρ „μεγάλαι μὲν αἱ κρίσεις τοῦ θεοῦ“ εἰσι καὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος οὐ χωρηταὶ νῷ, τῷ ἔτι ἐνδεδεμένῳ θνητῷ σώματι, διὸ καὶ „δυσδίηγητοι“ τυγχάνουσιν, ἀπαιδεύτοις δὲ ψυχαῖς οὐδ᾿ ἐπὶ ποσὸν θεωρηταί· διὸ καὶ οἱ προπετέστεροι τῇ περὶ ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ καὶ τῇ διὰ τὴν προπέτειαν εἰς τὸ θεῖον ἐπιστασίᾳ αὔξουσι τὰ ἀσεβῆ κατὰ τῆς προνοίας δόγματα. οὐ παρὰ δαιμόνων οὖν ἕκαστα τῶν εἰς τὰς βιωτικὰς χρείας λαμβάνομεν, μάλιστα οἱ δεόντως αὐτοῖς χρῆσθαι μεμαθηκότες, οὐδὲ συνεστιῶνται δαίμοσιν οἱ σίτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ ἀκροδρύων καὶ ὕδατος καὶ ἀέρος μεταλαμβάνοντες· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θείοις ἀγγέλοις τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων τεταγμένοις. οἵτινες ὡσπερεὶ καλοῦνται ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίαν τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς καὶ ἀκούσαντος τοῦ διδάσκοντος λόγου τὰ τοιάδε· „εἴτε ἐσθίετε εἴτε πίνετε εἴτε τι ποιεῖτε, πάντα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ ποιεῖτε.“ καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ κεῖται· „εἴτε ἐσθίετε εἴτε πίνετε.“ πάντα „ἐν ὀνόματι“ θεοῦ ποιεῖτε. ὅτε οὖν „εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ“ ἐσθίομεν καὶ πίνομεν καὶ ἀναπνέομεν καὶ κατὰ τὸν λόγον πάντα πράττομεν, οὐδενὶ τῶν δαιμόνων συνεστιώμεθα ἀλλὰ τοῖς θείοις ἀγγέλοις. καὶ γὰρ „πᾶν κτίσμα θεοῦ καλὸν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον μετ᾿ εὐχαριστίας λαμβανόμενον· ἁγιάζεται γὰρ διὰ λόγου θεοῦ καὶ ἐντεύξεως.“ οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἦν „καλὸν“ οὐδὲ δυνατὸν ἁγιάζεσθαι, εἰ. ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται, δαίμοσι ταῦτα ἦν προστεταγμένα.