Jesus is no demon
Having put such words in our mouths and slandered Christians, who say no such things, he thinks he is furnishing himself with a defence, though it is a jest rather than a defence. In it he says, as if to us: “Do you not see, my good man, that someone takes his stand and not only blasphemes even your demon, but has him banished by proclamation from every land and sea, and binds you, who are consecrated to him like a statue, leads you away and impales you; and the demon, or, as you say, the Son of God, takes no vengeance on him?”
This defence would have had some place if we used such words as he has written down that we say; and yet even then he would not have spoken the truth in calling the Son of God a demon. In our view, since we say that all demons are wicked, the One who turned so many people to God is not a demon but God the Word and Son of God. But according to Celsus, who has made nothing plain about wicked demons and has forgotten himself, how I do not know, Jesus is called a demon.
Later, however, after all the remedies that they did not accept, what is said about the ungodly will come upon those who are found in what one might call incurable wickedness.
Greek
Περιθεὶς δ᾿ ἡμῖν τοιούτους λόγους καὶ συκοφαντῶν Χριστιανοὺς, οὐ λέγοντας τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἑαυτῷ ἀπολογίαν πορίζειν νομίζει, παίγνιον μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπολογίαν τυγχάνουσαν, ἐν ᾗ φησιν ὡς πρὸς ἡμᾶς· οὐχ ὁρᾷς οὖν, ὦ βέλτιστε, ὅτι καὶ τὸν σὸν δαίμονα καταστάς τις οὐ βλασφημεῖ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης ἐκκηρύττει καὶ σὲ τὸν καθωσιωμένον ὥσπερ ἄγαλμα αὐτῷ δήσας ἀπάγει καὶ ἀνασκολοπίζει· καὶ ὁ δαίμων ἢ, ὡς σὺ φῂς, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ἀμύνεται; χώραν δ᾿ εἶχεν ἡ ἀπολογία αὕτη, εἰ τοιούτοις λόγοις, ὁποίους ἡμᾶς ἀνέγραψε λέγοντας, ἐχρώμεθα· καίτοι γε οὐδ᾿ οὕτως ἀληθῆ ἔλεγε, δαίμονα εἰπὼν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. κατὰ μὲν οὖν ἡμᾶς, τοὺς λέγοντας πάντας δαίμονας εἶναι φαύλους, οὐ δαίμων ὁ τοὺς τοσούσδε ἐπιστρέψας πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀλλὰ θεὸς λόγος καὶ θεοῦ παῖς· κατὰ δὲ Κέλσον, μηδὲν ἐμφήναντα περὶ φαύλων δαιμόνων οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως ἐπιλαθόμενον ἑαυτοῦ, δαίμων ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἴρηται. ὕστερον μέντοι γε τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν φθάσει μετὰ πάντα τὰ φάρμακα, ἅπερ οὐ προσήκαντο, ἐπὶ τοὺς καταλαμβανομένους ἐν τῇ, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ἀνιάτῳ κακίᾳ.