Primary source · Koine Greek
Against Celsus (Contra Celsum)
Origen of Alexandria · c. AD 248
What this text is
Eight books answering, line by line, the pagan philosopher's True Word of seventy years before — preserving Celsus's attack almost whole inside its refutation, and citing Josephus on James the Just.
Public-domain translations
Frederick Crombie (ANF, 1885)
Jesus, then, wishing to show that the power to endure torture is not a mere human quality but the gift of God, endured all things… We say that the whole habitable world contains evidence of the works of Jesus, in the existence of those churches of God which have been founded through him.
Manuscript witnesses
Vatican, Vat. gr. 386
13th c.The codex on which the direct tradition rests, checked by the Philocalia excerpts.
Philocalia anthology
4th c. (medieval copies)Basil and Gregory's Origen anthology preserves long extracts independently.
Provenance
Caesarea, c. AD 248 — eight books against the Platonist critic
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Origen: Contra CelsumHenry Chadwick, 1953The classic annotated translation.
- Origène: Contre Celse (SC 132–227)Marcel Borret, 1967–1976The critical edition with French translation.