66 66 66 66 being with men might teach the way which leads "to God-The other, glorious and merely divine, having nothing of human feelings mixed with the divinity. To quote these prophecies would be " tedious, and for the present that passage from the « 45th Psalm is sufficient—in which he is plainly "declared to be God in these words, Grace is poured "into thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever, &c. &c. ver. 25. and attend carefully to "what follows, where he is called God. For he says, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : "the sceptre of thy kingdom, &c. 6, 7. and observe, "that the prophet addressing God, whose throne is "for ever and ever, and the sceptre of his kingdom 66 66 66 66 66 66 a sceptre of righteousness, this God, he says, was "anointed by God, who was his God I re“ member pressing the Jew, who was thought clever, very hard by this passage; and being perplexed " by it, he said, as might be expected from his Jew"ish notions, that the words, Thy throne, O God, " is for ever and ever: the sceptre, &c. were addressed to the God of the universe; and the other words, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore, &c. to Christ i." 66 1. 182. Origenis c. Celsum, l. I. §. 60. vol. I. p. 375. I have already given at p. 83. the first part of the i Ἔλαβε δὲ τὸν Κέλσον, καὶ τὸν παρ' αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖον, καὶ πάντας ὅσοι τῷ Ἰησοῦ μὴ πεπιστεύκασιν, ὅτι αἱ προφητεῖαι δύο λέγουσιν εἶναι τὰς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας· τὴν μὲν προτέραν ἀνθρωποπαθεστέραν καὶ ταπεινοτέραν, ἵνα σὺν ἀνθρώποις ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς, διδάξῃ τὴν φέρουσαν πρὸς Θεὸν ὁδὸν, καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώ πων ἀπολογίας καταλίπῃ τόπον, ὡς οὐκ ἐγνωκόσι περὶ τῆς ἐσομένης κρίσ σεως. τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν ἔνδοξον καὶ μόνον θειοτέραν, οὐδὲν ἐπιπεπλεγμένον τῇ θειότητι ἔχουσαν ἀνθρωποπαθές. Πα ραθέσθαι δὲ καὶ τὰς προφητείας, πολὺ ἂν εἴη· ἀρκεῖ δ ̓ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ τεσσαρακοστοῦ καὶ τετάρτου ψαλμοῦ ἔνθα καὶ Θεὸς ἀνηγόρευται σαφῶς διὰ τούτων, Εξεχύθη κ. τ. λ. πρόσχες δ ̓ ἐπιμελῶς τοῖς ἑξῆς, ἔνθα Θεὸς εἴρηται, Ο θρόνος κ. τ. λ. following quotation concerning the offerings of the wise men: "They came bringing presents, which, "if I may so say, they offered as symbolical to one "who was compounded of God and mortal man; 66 gold, as to a king, myrrh as to one who was to "die; and incense, as to God: they offered these, "when they learnt the place of his birth: but since "the incarnate Saviour of mankind, who was supe"rior to the angels, that assist men, was God, an 66 66 angel repaid the piety of the wise men in worshipping Jesus, by warning them &c." 183. Origenis c. Celsum, 1. I. §. 66. vol. I. p. 380. We may form some opinion as to what was the received doctrine concerning Christ's divinity in those days, by observing what Celsus himself understood of the Christian tenets: and it does not admit of a doubt, but that Celsus was fully persuaded that the Christians looked upon Christ as God. The passages which Origen quotes from Celsus, and which prove this, need not be transcribed at length; and some of them will be found in the quotations which follow. They occur in lib. I. §. 66. II. §. 9, 18, 20. IV. §. 3. VII. §. 53. In all these passages, and in many more, Celsus speaks of Christ as the God of the Christians: nor was it this doctrine, which was to him a stumblingblock: it was the human sufferings of God which he professed himself unable to believe. 184. Origenis c. Celsum, l. I. §. 66. vol. I. p. 380. Celsus had objected, that the flight into Egypt was unworthy of a God, who ought to have been able to confound his enemies without flying from ἐνυπάρχων σωτὴρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἄγγελος κ. τ. λ. k · ἀλλ ̓ ἐπεὶ Θεὸς ἦν, ὁ ὑπὲρ τοὺς βοηθοῦντας ἀνθρώποις ἀγγέλους 66 them. Origen shews that this flight was not inconsistent with the divinity of Christ, and observes, “We "who believe Jesus, who says himself concerning "his divinity, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, (John xiv. 6.)—and concerning his being "in a human body, Now ye seek to kill me, a man "that hath told you the truth, (John viii. 40.) we "say, that he was something compound'." At the end of the section he says, " Any very extraordinary "and overpowering assistance operating in his be"half would not have furthered his wish to shew as "a man approved by God, that he had something "divine in the visible man, which was properly the "Son of God, God the Word, the Power of God "and Wisdom of God, which was called Christ. "But it is not time now to treat of the compound "nature, and of the parts, of which Jesus, who became a man, was composed m." 66 66 185. Origenis c. Celsum, l. I. §. 68. vol. I. p. 383. Celsus being unable to deny the miracles of Jesus acknowledged them as facts, but attributed the working of them to magic. Origen refutes this, and principally by pointing out that all the miracles of Jesus were worked for the purpose of leading men to virtue and holiness. "But if the life of Jesus "was of this character, how could any one with reason compare it to the profession of jugglers, and 66 1 Ἡμεῖς δ ̓ αὐτῷ πιστεύοντες Ἰησοῦ περὶ μὲν τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ Θειότητος λέγοντι, Ἐγὼ κ. τ. λ. περὶ δὲ τοῦ ὅτι ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ σώματι ἦν, ταῦτα φάσκοντι, Νῦν δὲ ζητεῖτε κ. τ. λ. σύνθετόν τι χρῆμά φαμεν αὐτὸν γεγονέναι. m Τὸ γὰρ πάνυ παράδοξον τῆς ἐπ ̓ αὐτὸν βοηθείας, καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον ἐμφα νες, οὐκ ἦν χρήσιμον τῷ βούλεσθαι αὐτὸν διδάξαι ὡς ἄνθρωπον μαρτυρού μενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔχειν τι θειότερον ἐν τῷ βλεπομένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ· ὅπερ ἦν ὁ κυρίως υἱὸς Θεοῦ, Θεὸς Λόγος, Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία, ὁ καλούμενος Χριστός. Οὐ καιρὸς δὲ νῦν περὶ τοῦ συνθέτου, καὶ ἐξ ὧν συνέκειτο ὁ ἐνανθρωπήσας Ἰησοῦς, διηγήσασθαι. "not believe, according to the promise of his being 66 God, that he appeared in a human body for the "benefit of mankind " ?" 186. Origenis c. Celsum, 1. II. §. 8. vol. I. p. 391. "Celsus says, that this charge is brought against "the Jews by those who believe in Christ, that they "do not believe in Jesus as God. I have explained where I shewed 66 66 myself upon this point before, "how we conceive him to be God, and in what sense we call him man "." It is clear from these words, that the idea entertained of Christ was that he was God: He was called man only Katά TI, in some particular sense. 187. Origenis c. Celsum, 1. II. §. 9. vol. I. p. 392. Celsus objected the disgrace of Jesus being seized by officers, and deserted by his disciples. "To "this we say, that neither do we suppose that the "body of Jesus, which could then be seen and felt, 66 was God. But why do I say the body? Neither "was his soul: concerning which he said, My soul "is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, (Matt. "xxvi. 38.) But like as in the religion of the Jews, "he that said, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, (Jer. xxxii. 27.) and before me there was no God, "neither shall there be after me, (Isaiah xliii. 10.) " is believed to be God, who used the soul and body "of the prophet as an instrument- -so with us 66 " God the Word, and Son of the God of the uni 66 66 “ verse, said in Jesus, I am the way, and the truth, " and the life, (John xiv. 6.) and I am the door, &c. (*. 7.) —Now we charge the Jews with not con"sidering him as God, who in many places is spoken "of by the prophets as being the mighty Power and "God, like the God of the universe and Father P. "For we say, that in the creation as related by “ Moses, the Father gave command to him, when "He said, Let there be light, and let there be a "firmament, &c. and that He said to him, Let "us make man after our image and likeness: and "that the Son having received the command did "whatever his Father commanded him 9." P These words are translated secundo post rerum omnium Deum et Patrem loco Deum esse. But this is not the proper signification of κατά. If Origen had called Jesus Θεόν μετὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν, the translation might have been right: and we find this expression at p. 789. where, speaking of angels or demons, he says, ἄλλους τινὰς μετὰ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι Θεόν· but speaking of the Son, he says, p. 751. ἐκ τοῦ θρησκεύειν ἡμᾶς μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ κ. τ. λ. Θεὸς κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν can only mean God after the pattern of the God of the universe ; i. e. God in the same sense and meaning of the word, as ἀνθρώπου καθ ̓ ἡμᾶς θνητοῦ means a mortal man like ourselves, Dionys. Alex. p. 237. and τῆς καθ ̓ ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως means the human nature like our own, Melito (Rel. Sacr. I. p. 1 15.) and καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀληθῶς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, which Hippolytus says of our Saviour, (I. p. 226.) means, that he was really born and became a man like ourselves : and Origen himself speaks of Christ, ιδιοποιούμενος τὰ καθ ̓ ἂν εἴληφεν ἄνθρωπον πάθη, making those sufferings his own which belonged to the human nature that he had assumed, Ν. 232. below. 4 Πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν, ὅτι οὐδ ̓ ἡμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνομεν τὸ βλεπόμενον τότε καὶ αἰσθητὸν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα εἶναι Θεόν· καὶ τί λέγω τὸ σῶμα ; ἀλλ ̓ οὐδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν, περὶ ἧς λέλεκται τὸ, Περίλυπός ἐστιν κ. τ. λ. -οὕτω καθ ̓ ἡμᾶς ὁ Λόγος Θεὸς, καὶ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων υἱὸς, ἔλεγεν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τὸ, Ἐγὼ εἶμι κ. τ. λ. Ἐγκαλοῦμεν οὖν Ἰουδαίοις τοῦτον μὴ νομίσασι Θεὸν, ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν πολλαχοῦ μεμαρτυρημένον ὡς μεγάλην ὄντα δύναμιν, καὶ Θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν καὶ πατέρα. Τούτῳ γάρ φαμεν ἐν τῇ κατὰ Μωσέα κοστ μοποιΐα προστάττοντα τὸν πατέρα |