Our first-fruits go to the Creator
Celsus would have first-fruits, too, dedicated to demons. But we dedicate them to the One who said, “Let the earth bring forth the green plant, sowing seed according to its kind and likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it according to its kind upon the earth” (Genesis 1:11). And to the One to whom we render our first-fruits we also send up our prayers, “having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14), and we hold fast “the confession” (Hebrews 4:14) as long as we live, finding God and his Only-begotten, who is made manifest to us in Jesus, kind toward us.
And if we long also for a multitude of beings whose kindness we wish to win, we learn “that a thousand thousands stood beside him, and ten thousand times ten thousand ministered to him” (Daniel 7:10). These, seeing as their kindred and friends those who imitate their own piety toward God, work together for the salvation of those who call upon God and pray sincerely. They appear to them, and they think they must listen to them and, as if at a single signal, come among them to benefit and save those who pray to God, to whom they themselves also pray. For “they are all ministering spirits, sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).
Let the wise men of the Greeks, then, say that demons have been allotted the human soul from its birth. But Jesus taught us not to despise even “the little ones” in the Church, saying that “their angels always behold the face of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10), and the prophet says, “The angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him, and will deliver them” (Psalm 34:7).
So we too do not deny that there are many demons on earth. We say that they exist and have power among the wicked because of the wickedness of such people, but that they have no power against those who have put on “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11) and have taken up strength “to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11, 13), and who are always studying their wrestling holds, because they know “that our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Greek
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπαρχὰς Κέλσος μὲν δαιμονίοις ἀνατιθέναι βούλεται. ἡμεῖς δὲ τῷ εἰπόντι· „βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ᾿ ὁμοιότητα, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπὸν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.“ ᾧ δὲ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς ἀποδίδομεν. τούτῳ καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς ἀναπέμπομεν, „ἔχοντες ἀρχιερέα μέγαν, διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ,“ καὶ κρατοῦμεν „τῆς ὁμολογίας,“ ἕως ἂν ζῶμεν. φιλανθρώπου τυγχάνοντες τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ, ἐν Ἰησοῦ ἡμῖν φανερουμένου. εἰ δὲ καὶ πλῆθος ποθοῦμεν ὧν φιλανθρώπων τυγχάνειν θέλομεν, μανθάνομεν „ὅτι χίλιαι χιλιάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ. καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ,“ αἵτινες ὡς συγγενεῖς καὶ φίλους τοὺς μιμουμένους τὴν εἰς θεὸν αὐτῶν εὐσέβειαν ὁρῶντες συμπράττουσιν αὐτῶν τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων τὸν θεὸν καὶ γνησίως εὐχομένων, ἐπιφαινόμενοι καὶ οἰόμενοι αὐτοῖς δεῖν ἐπακούειν καὶ ὥσπερ ἐξ ἑνὸς συνθήματος ἐπιδημεῖν ἐπ᾿ εὐεργεσίᾳ καὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν εὐχομένων θεῷ, ᾧ καὶ αὐτοὶ εὔχονται. καὶ γὰρ „πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα, εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν.“ Ἑλλήνων μὲν οὖν οἱ σοφοὶ λεγέτωσαν δαίμονας εἰληχέναι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν ἀπὸ γενέσεως· ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξε μηδὲ „τῶν“ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ „μικρῶν“ καταφρονεῖν, λέγων ὅτι „οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς,“ καὶ ὁ προφήτης δέ φησιν ὅτι „παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτούς.“ οὐκ ἀναιροῦμεν οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ πολλοὺς εἶναι δαίμονας ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλά φαμεν εἶναι μὲν αὐτοὺς καὶ δύνασθαι ἐν τοῖς φαύλοις διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων κακίαν, μηδὲν δὲ δύνασθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἐνδυσαμένους „τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ“ καὶ ἀναλαβόντας ἰσχὺν „πρὸς τὸ“ ἀντιστῆναι „πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου“ καὶ μελετῶντας ἀεὶ τὰ ἐκείνων παλαίσματα τῷ ἐγνωκέναι „ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τούτου, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις.“