Celsus ( / ˈ s ɛ l s ə s / ; Hellenistic Greek : Κέλσος , Kélsos ; fl. AD 175–177 ) was a 2nd-century Roman philosopher and opponent of early Christianity . His literary work, The True Word (also Account , Doctrine or Discourse ; Greek: Hellenistic Greek : Λόγος Ἀληθής ), survives exclusively in quotations from it in Contra Celsum , a refutation written in 248 by Origen of Alexandria . The True Word is the earliest known comprehensive criticism of Christianity .
23-560: Celso is a given name, a variant of Celsus . It may refer to: People [ edit ] Celso Sozzini (1517–1570), Italian freethinker Celso Mancini (1542–1612), Italian Roman Catholic prelate Celso Zani (1580-unknown), Italian Roman Catholic prelate Celso Golmayo Zúpide (1820–1898), Spanish-Cuban chess player Celso Caesar Moreno (1830–1901), Italian adventurer and political figure Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto (1836–1912), Brazilian politician and last Prime Minister of
46-484: A critical attack on Christianity, ridiculing many of its dogmas. He wrote that some Jews said Jesus's father was actually a Roman soldier named Pantera. Origen considered this a fabricated story. In addition, Celsus addressed the miracles of Jesus , holding that "Jesus performed his miracles by sorcery ( γοητεία )": O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of
69-504: A general consensus that Celsus probably wrote around AD 170 to 180. All that is known about Celsus himself comes from the surviving text of his book and from what Origen says about him. Although Origen initially refers to Celsus as an Epicurean , his arguments reflect ideas of the Platonic tradition, rather than Epicureanism. Origen attributes this to Celsus's inconsistency, but modern historians see it instead as evidence that Celsus
92-529: A hierarchy of lower deities which do not detract from the ultimate unity of the One." Celsus shows himself familiar with the story of Jewish origins. Conceding that Christians are not without success in business ( infructuosi in negotiis ), Celsus wants them to be good citizens, to retain their own belief but worship the emperors and join their fellow citizens in defending the empire. This appeal on behalf of unity and mutual toleration nevertheless centers on submission to
115-486: A loyal citizen of the Roman Empire and a devoted believer in the ancient Greek religion and the religion in ancient Rome , distrustful of Christianity as new and foreign. Thomas remarks that Celsus "is no genius as a philosopher". Nonetheless, most scholars, including Thomas, agree that Origen's quotations from The True Word reveal that the work was well-researched. Celsus demonstrates extensive knowledge of both
138-399: A similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that
161-506: A symposium round a swamp, or worms in conventicle in a corner of the mud . It is not known how many were Christians at the time of Celsus (the Jewish population of the empire may have been about 6.6–10% in a population of 60 million to quote one reference). Celso Marranzini Celso José Marranzini Pérez (born 11 January 1952, in Santo Domingo ) is an economist and businessman from
184-486: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Celsus Hanegraaff has argued that The True Word was written shortly after the death of Justin Martyr (who was possibly the first Christian apologist ), and was probably a response to his work. Origen stated that Celsus was from the first half of the 2nd century AD, although the majority of modern scholars have come to
207-481: The Old and New Testaments and of both Jewish and Christian history. Celsus was also closely familiar with the literary features of ancient polemics. Celsus seems to have read at least one work by one of the second-century Christian apologists, possibly Justin Martyr or Aristides of Athens . From this reading, Celsus seems to have known which kinds of arguments Christians would be most vulnerable to. He also mentions
230-548: The Ophites and Simonians , two Gnostic sects that had almost completely vanished by Origen's time. One of Celsus's main sources for Books I–II of The True Word was an earlier anti-Christian polemic written by an unknown Jewish author, whom Origen refers to as the "Jew of Celsus". This Jewish source also provides well-researched criticism of Christianity and, although Celsus was also hostile to Judaism, he occasionally relies on this Jewish author's arguments, if only to demonstrate
253-458: The pollution of mortality . Celsus attacks the Christians as feeding off faction and disunity, and accuses them of converting the vulgar and ignorant, while refusing to debate wise men. As for their opinions regarding their sacred mission and exclusive holiness, Celsus responds by deriding their insignificance, comparing them to a swarm of bats, or ants creeping out of their nest, or frogs holding
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#1732863158416276-622: The Dominican Republic. He was the Vice President of Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales (CDEEE, "Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies"); former chairman of Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada (CONEP, "National Council of the Private Enterprise"). He was born to Constantino Marranzini Risk (the son of Liberato Marranzini, an Italian immigrant from Santa Lucia di Serino , and Amelia Risk Assis,
299-5163: The Empire of Brazil Celso Ceretti (1844–1919), Italian anarchist and socialist politician Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (1876–1958), Italian Roman Catholic cardinal Celso Lagar (1891–1966), Spanish painter Celso de Freitas (1912–1970), Guyanese cricketer Celso Emilio Ferreiro (1912–1979), Spanish Galicianist activist writer and politician Celso Peçanha (1916–2016), Brazilian politician, lawyer and journalist Celso Furtado (1920–2004), Brazilian economist Celso Brant (1920–2004), Brazilian politician Celso Battaia (1920–2007), Italian football midfielder Celso-Ramón García (1922–2014), Spanish-American physician Celso Garrido Lecca (born 1926), Peruvian composer Celso Pereira de Almeida (1928–2014), Brazilian Roman Catholic bishop Celso Posio (1931–2016), Italian football midfielder Celso Torrelio (1933–1999), Paraguayan military general and former President of Paraguay Celso Yegros Estigarribia (1935–2013), Paraguayan Roman Catholic bishop Zé Celso (born 1937), José Celso Martinez Corrêa, Brazilian actor, director and playwright Celso Murilo (born 1940), Brazilian musician, composer and arranger Celso Lafer (born 1941), Brazilian jurist, professor and politician Celso Amorim (born 1942), Brazilian diplomat Celso Ad. Castillo (1943–2012), Filipino director and screenwriter Celso Scarpini (born 1944), Brazilian basketball player Adu Celso (1945–2005), Brazilian motorcycle road racer Celso Pitta (born 1946–2009), Brazilian economist and politician Celso Grebogi (born 1947), Brazilian theoretical politician Celso Zubire (born 1947), Mexican artist Celso de Matos (born 1947), Portuguese football midfielder Celso Bugallo (born 1947), Spanish actor Celso Lobregat (born 1948), Filipino politician Celso Morga Iruzubieta (born 1948), Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop Celso Costa (born 1949), Brazilian mathematician Celso Valli (born 1950), Italian composer Celso Ferreira (born 1950), known as Celsinho, Brazilian football forward Celso Brandão (born 1951), Brazilian photographer and director Celso Daniel (1951–2002), Brazilian mayor Celso Dayrit (1951–2021), Filipino fencer and sports executive Celso Frateschi (born 1952), Brazilian actor, director, and politician Celso Marranzini (born 1952), Dominican economist and diplomat Celso Piña (1953–2019), Mexican singer, composer and accordionist Celso Machado (born 1953), Brazilian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Claudio Celso (born 1955), Brazilian guitarist and composer Celso Fonseca (born 1956), Brazilian musician composer, guitarist and producer Celso Russomanno (born 1956), Brazilian reporter and politician Celso Blues Boy (1956–2012), Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Celso Gavião (born 1956), Brazilian football centre-back goalkeeper Celso Roth (born 1957), Brazilian football manager and football midfielder Celso Giardini (born 1958), Italian sports shooter Celso Otero (born 1958), Uruguayan football manager and former Celso Güity (1958–2021), Honduran football forward Celso Al. Carunungan (fl. 1959–1982), Filipino writer and screenwriter Celso Jaque (born 1960), Argentine politician Celso Luis Gomes (born 1964), Brazilian football defender Celso Portiolli (born 1967), Brazilian television presenter and broadcaster Celso Ayala (born 1970), Paraguayan football manager and former centre-back Celso Guerrero (born 1971), Paraguayan football manager and former goalkeeper Celso Riva (born 1974), Italian video game designer Celso Duarte (born 1974), Paraguayan harpist, singer and instrumentalist Celso Vieira (born 1974), Brazilian football midfielder Celso Albelo (born 1976), Spanish operatic tenor Celso Brum Junior (born 1978), Brazilian volleyball player Celso Cardoso De Moraes (born 1979), known as Chika, Brazilian football defender Celso Esquivel (born 1981), Paraguayan football right-back Celso Míguez (born 1982), Spanish racing driver Celso Vinicius (born 1983), Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor and mixed martial artist Celso Capdevila (born 1984), Paraguayan football goalkeeper Celso Oliveira (born 1988), Brazilian canoeist Celso Borges (born 1988), Costa Rican football midfielder Celso Ortiz (born 1989), Paraguayan football midfielder Celso Raposo (born 1996), Portuguese football right-back El Celso (fl.2009-present), American post-graffiti artist Celso Arango (fl. 2011-present), Spanish psychiatrist Places [ edit ] Celso Ramos , municipality in Santa Catarina, Brazil Santi Celso e Giuliano , basilica in Rome, Italy Santa Maria presso San Celso , church in Milan, Italy See also [ edit ] Lo Celso , surname Topics referred to by
322-478: The author of The True Word evidently shared a passionate zeal against superstitio , making it easy to see how Origen could have concluded that they were the same person. Stephen Thomas states that Celsus may not have been a Platonist per se , but that he was clearly familiar with Plato . Celsus's actual philosophy appears to be a blend of elements derived from Platonism, Aristotelianism , Pythagoreanism , and Stoicism . Wilken likewise concludes that Celsus
345-434: The corruption of the ancient religion. "The goatherds and shepherds who followed Moses as their leader were deluded by clumsy deceits into thinking that there was only one God, [and] without any rational cause ... these goatherds and shepherds abandoned the worship of many gods". However, Celsus's harshest criticism was reserved for Christians, who "wall themselves off and break away from the rest of mankind". Celsus initiated
368-923: The inconsistency of the Christian position, rather than argue for his own. Celsus was the author of a work titled The True Word ( Logos Alēthēs ). The argument was contested by the contemporary Christian community and the book was eventually banned in 448 AD by order of Valentinian III and Theodosius II , along with Porphyry 's 15 books attacking the Christians, The Philosophy from Oracles . No complete copies are extant, but it can be reconstructed from Origen's detailed account of it in his eight volume refutation, which quotes Celsus extensively. Origen's work has survived and has thereby preserved Celsus's work. Celsus seems to have been interested in Ancient Egyptian religion , and he seemed to know of Hellenistic Jewish logos-theology, both of which suggest The True Doctrine
391-514: The one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men. Origen wrote his refutation in 248. Sometimes quoting, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, Origen reproduces and replies to Celsus's arguments. Since accuracy
414-446: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Celso . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Celso&oldid=1138116814 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
437-460: The state and military service. One of Celsus's bitterest complaints is that Christians refused to cooperate with civil society and held local customs and the ancient religions in contempt. The Christians viewed these as idolatrous and inspired by evil spirits, whereas polytheists like Celsus thought of them as the works of the Daemons, or the god's ministers, who ruled mankind in his place to keep him from
460-453: Was a philosophical eclectic, whose views reflect a variety of ideas popular to a number of different schools. Wilken classifies Celsus as "a conservative intellectual", noting that "he supports traditional values and defends accepted beliefs". Theologian Robert M. Grant notes that Origen and Celsus actually agree on many points: "Both are opposed to anthropomorphism , to idolatry , and to any crudely literal theology." Celsus also writes as
483-618: Was composed in Alexandria. Origen indicates that Celsus was an Epicurean living under the Emperor Hadrian . Celsus writes that "there is an ancient doctrine [ archaios logos ] which has existed from the beginning, which has always been maintained by the wisest nations and cities and wise men". He leaves Jews and Moses out of those he cites (Egyptians, Syrians, Indians, Persians, Odrysians, Samothracians, Eleusinians, Hyperboreans, Galactophagoi, Druids, and Getae), and instead blames Moses for
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#1732863158416506-399: Was essential to his refutation of The True Doctrine , most scholars agree that Origen is a reliable source for what Celsus wrote. Biblical scholar Arthur J. Droge has written that it is incorrect to refer to Celsus's perspective as polytheism . Instead, he was a henotheist , as opposed to the Jewish strict monotheism ; historian Wouter Hanegraaff explains that "the former has room for
529-526: Was not an Epicurean at all. Joseph Wilson Trigg states that Origen probably confused Celsus, the author of The True Word , with a different Celsus, who was an Epicurean philosopher and a friend of the Syrian satirist Lucian . Celsus the Epicurean must have lived around the same time as the author of The True Word and he is mentioned by Lucian in his treatise On Magic . Both Celsus the friend of Lucian and Celsus
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