The apology of Origen in reply to Celsus Author:John Patrick Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE CULTURE OF CELSUS. Apart altogether from its refutation by Origen, the work of Celsus, who, though an unsympathetic was a fair and thoroug... more »h inquirer, is indirectly a valuable contribution to the history of Christian thought and life in the second century. To a philosopher who was a hostile critic, questions of government and organisation were of little interest, partly because they furnished no scope for attack; and hence, with the exception of a passing reference to the " Great Church," and an uncomplimentary allusion to certain presbyters, he sheds no light on such problems. But nowhere else do we see so clearly what it was in Christianity that aroused the hostility of the State, the opposition of the philosophers, and the fanatical attacks of the populace; nowhere else do we find such unbiassed evidence for the source and nature of Christian dogmas, and for the facts and teaching recorded in the Gospels. The greater and moreminute his knowledge of the principles of Christianity, the more important is the place occupied by his work in the history of Apologetics. What, then, did Celsus know of the sacred books of the Christians ? In particular, what, according to him, were the distinctive dogmas of the Christians in his age, and from what source were they drawn ? I. Eegarding the accuracy and extent of his knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, it is impossible to speak with confidence. He is fully cognisant of the claims of the Jews to be regarded as a chosen people, specially beloved of God, to whom a revelation had been granted which gave their Scriptures a unique character;1 of the general tenor of the teaching of Moses and the prophets,2 of the promises of material prosperity given to Israel,8 and of the place and characteristics of the Messiani...« less