Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus

Jesus taught us who it was that sent Him, in the words, “None knoweth the Father but the Son;”329 Cf. Luke x. 22. and in these, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.”330 John i. 18. He, treating of Deity, stated to His true disciples the doctrine regarding God; and we, discovering traces of such teaching in the Scripture narratives, take occasion from such to aid our theological conceptions,331 ὧν ἴχνη ἐν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις εὑρίσκοντες ἀφορμὰς ἔχομεν θεολογεῖν. hearing it declared in one passage, that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all;”332 1 John i. 5. and in another, “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”333 John iv. 24. But the purposes for which the Father sent Him are innumerable; and these any one may ascertain who chooses, partly from the prophets who prophesied of Him, and partly from the narratives of the evangelists. And not a few things also will he learn from the apostles, and especially from Paul. Moreover, those who are pious He leadeth to the light, and those who sin He will punish,—a circumstance which Celsus not observing, has represented Him “as one who will lead the pious to the light, and who will have mercy on others, whether they sin or repent.”334 The text is, τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντας ἢ μεταγνόντας ἐλεήσων. Bohereau would read μὴ μεταγνόντας, or would render the passage as if the reading were ἢ ἁμαρτανόντας, ἢ μεταγνόντας. This suggestion has been adopted in the translation.

Ἐδίδαξε δὲ ἡμᾶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ὅστις ἦν ὁ πέμψας ἐν τῷ "Οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός", καὶ τῷ "Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· καὶ μονογενής γε ὢν θεός, ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο." Ἐκεῖνος θεολογῶν ἀπήγγειλε τὰ περὶ θεοῦ τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς· ὧν ἴχνη ἐν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις εὑρίσκοντες ἀφορμὰς ἔχομεν θεολογεῖν, ὅπου μὲν ἀκούοντες· "Ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, καὶ σκοτία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ οὐδεμία", ὅπου δέ· "Πνεῦμα ὁ θεός, καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν." Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφ' οἷς ἔπεμψεν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ μυρία ἐστίν, ἅτινα ὁ βουλόμενος μανθανέτω, πῇ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν προκηρυξάντων περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητῶν πῇ δ' ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν· οὐκ ὀλίγα δ' εἴσεται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ μάλιστα Παύλου. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβοῦντας οὗτος φωταγωγεῖ τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντας κολάσει, ὅπερ οὐκ ἰδὼν ὁ Κέλσος πεποίηκε· Καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβοῦντας φωταγωγήσων τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτά νοντας ἢ μεταγνόντας ἐλεήσων.