The name of Jesus against the Egyptian list
Probably the one who embraces Celsus’s views will laugh when we say that “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue” is brought “to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). But once he has laughed, he will receive more effective proofs that this is so than any he has about the names he reports, Chnoumen, Chnachoumen, Knat, Sikat and the rest of the Egyptian list, on the claim that, when invoked, they heal the ailments of the parts.
And see how, while turning us away from believing in the God of all through Jesus Christ, he calls us, for the healing of our body, to faith in thirty-six barbarian demons, whom only the Egyptian magicians invoke, promising us, I do not know how, better things. So, according to Celsus, it is time for us to practise trickery and sorcery rather than to be Christians, and to believe in some countless number of demons rather than in the God over all, who is evident at once, living and plain to see, believing in Him through the One who with great power sowed the pure word of godliness over the whole inhabited world of men, and, I shall not lie if I add it, over the world of the other rational beings too, who also need correction, healing and a change away from wickedness.
Greek
Εἰκὸς δ᾿ ὅτι γελάσεται μὲν ὁ τὰ Κέλσου ἀσπαζόμενος, λεγόντων ἡμῶν ὅτι „ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ὑπάγεται τῷ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός“· γελάσας δὲ ἐνεργεστέρας ἀποδείξεις λήψεται ταῦθ᾿ οὕτως ἔχειν ἢ περὶ ἇν ὀνομάτων ἱστορεῖ τοῦ Χνουμὴν καὶ τοῦ Χναχουμὴν καὶ τοῦ Κνὰτ καὶ τοῦ Σικὰτ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ Αἰγυπτιακοῦ καταλόγου, ὡς καλουμένων καὶ ἰωμένων τὰ τῶν μερῶν παθήματα. καὶ ὅρα γε, τίνα τρόπον ἡμᾶς ἀποτρέπων πιστεύειν ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπὶ πίστιν διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν θεραπείαν καλεῖ ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα βαρβαρικῶν δαιμόνων. οὓς μόνοι Αἰγυπτίων μάγοι κα- λοῦντες οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως ἐπαγγέλλονται ἡμῖν τὰ κρείττονα. ὥρα δ᾿ ἡμῖν κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον μαγγανεύειν μᾶλλον καὶ γοητεύειν ἤπερ χριστιανίζειν, καὶ ἀπείρῳ τινὶ ἀριθμῷ δαιμόνων μᾶλλον πιστεύειν ἢ τῷ αὐτόθεν ἐμφανεῖ καὶ ζῶντι καὶ ἐναργεῖ θεῷ τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι διὰ τοῦ πολλῇ δυνάμει ἐπισπείραντος τὸν καθαρὸν τῆς θεοσεβείας λόγον τῇ πάσῃ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένῃ, οὐ ψεύσομαι δὲ προστιθεὶς καὶ λέγων ὅτι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων λογικῶν καὶ δεομένων διορθώσεως καὶ θεραπείας καὶ μεταβολῆς τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας.