Davide's Notes

Here are some of the objections that Celsus raised against Christianity in the late second century (c.180). They are all found in Contra Celsus by Origen, as no original works by Celsus are extant. According to Origen, Celsus was an Epicurean.

1. Christians engage in secret associations with each other. At least part of these gatherings consists in "love-feasts".
2. Christianity (and Judaism) is barbarous in origin. Much better are the Greeks and their dialectics.
3. The moral system of Christianity is nothing new.
4. The Jews observe a mode of worship derived from their fathers, and retain their ancestral customs; they do not seek to subvert and get rid of "institutions established from the beginning in the various places". Not so the Christians. They also claim that their ancestral customs derive from the Jews, but "have revolted from the Jews".
5. The herdsmen and shepherds that created Judaism decided that there was only one God, and they named it in different ways (the Highest, Adonai, etc). But "it makes no difference whether the God who is over all things be called by the name of Zeus, which is current among the Greeks, or by that, e.g., which is in use among the Indians or Egyptians".
6. Assuming that God decided to rescue humanity from evil (and Celsus suggests that he did so in a whimsical way, like Jupiter "awaking from a lenghtened slumber"), why did he not send the Holy Spirit to many and then send these many into the whole world? Christians make themselves ridicolous when they say that the Spirit descended only on Jesus the Son of God, and that he was sent only to the Jews.
7. Christians are not really monotheists. In reality they worship "to an extravagant degree this man who appeared recently". They won't accept to worship God alone.
8. The idea of a God coming down to the earth is shameful. What would be the purpose of such a descent on the part of God? Didn't God know already all that was going on on earth? If so, why coming down? Couldn't he fix allegedly wrong things directly?
9. The virginal birth of Jesus was invented. In reality Jesus was born out of an adulterous relation, because of which her mother was kicked out of the house by the husband, a carpenter. Jesus, having learned some miraculous powers when he was in Egypts working as a servant, used them to proclaim himself a god.
10. What proof do we have of the resurrection? Jesus was seen after resurrection by "a hysterical female" and by others "who either dreamt in a certain state of mind and through wishful thinking had a allucination due to some mistaken notion [...], or, which is more likely, wanted to impress the others by telling this fantastic tale". So, the story is fabricated. In general, there is no proof or witnesses to events narrated in the gospels.
11. Jesus was no God because he received no assistance from the Father, or was unable to aid himself.
12. If God is the God of all, and if by being God he does not need anything (therefore, he cannot be jealous), why do Christians teach to avoid public feasts and idol offerings? In fact, idols are either nothing (so there is no harm in offering to them), or they are demons. But in this case they are also God's creatures, and "we must believe in them, sacrifice to them according to the laws, and pray to them that they may be propitious".
13. Christians do not proceed by means of reason; they rather repeat "Do not examine, but believe!" and, "Your faith will save you!". This is why Christianity is so much widespread among illiterate persons. Christians are not able to explain "at least of what nature these things are of which they speak, and whence they are derived". For Christians, "the wisdom of this life is a bad thing, but foolishness is good".
14. Christians, when in front of wise people, remain silent. But when they get hold of children and "some stupid women", they say they should not pay any attention to their fathers and school-teachers but must obey them. They don't speak in front of these teachers because "they do not want to have anything to do with the silly and obtuse teachers that are totally corrupted". They also teach children that, if they like, they should leave father and schoolmasters.
15. Celsus condems "those who, while holding the Christian views, either pretend that they do not, or deny them".
16. Christianity makes a point of calling to the faith "ignorant, unintelligent, uninstructed, or foolish persons"; on the other hand, it rejects those who are instructed, wise or prudent. In addition, they prefer "sinners over others".
    
17. Christians must choose: either they decide not to render service to the gods, and in this case they should not marry nor have children, and therefore disappear soon from the face of the earth. Or they can marry, have children, and enjoy life and its sorrows: but in this case they must "discharge the duties of life". If they receive anything from life, they should pay honor to "those beings who control the affairs of this life".
18. The maintenance of social order depends on paying honours to God and men; by contrast, the Christians' God does not help his followers.
19. Christians are not consistent in their respect of the soul and of "its bodily organs". If they were, they would refuse to eat all animal food (Celsus refers here to the vegetarianism of Pythagoras, who, according to Ovid, said that "animals share with us the privilege of having a soul"). Instead Christians only refuse to eat "slain victims".
20. Celsus urges Christians to "take office in the government of the country", and to help the king with all possible strength. Apparently Christians were rather reluctant to be involved in worldly affairs.

How many of these objections (and to what extent) still have some appeal and/or validity in today's world?

---

Categories: Church_History