Chapter XI.

He says, in addition, that “all the Christians were of one mind,” not observing, even in this particular, that from the beginning there were differences of opinion among believers regarding the meaning398    ᾽Εκδοχήν. of the books held to be divine.  At all events, while the apostles were still preaching, and while eye-witnesses of (the works of) Jesus were still teaching His doctrine, there was no small discussion among the converts from Judaism regarding Gentile believers, on the point whether they ought to observe Jewish customs, or should reject the burden of clean and unclean meats, as not being obligatory on those who had abandoned their ancestral Gentile customs, and had become believers in Jesus.  Nay, even in the Epistles of Paul, who was contemporary with those who had seen Jesus, certain particulars are found mentioned as having been the subject of dispute,—viz., respecting the resurrection,399    Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 12 sqq. and whether it were already past, and the day of the Lord, whether it were nigh at hand400    Cf. 2 Thess. ii. 2. or not.  Nay, the very exhortation to “avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:  which some professing, have erred concerning the faith,”401    Cf. 1 Tim. vi. 20. is enough to show that from the very beginning, when, as Celsus imagines, believers were few in number, there were certain doctrines interpreted in different ways.402    Τινὲς παρεκδοχαί.  [He admits the fact, but does not justify such oppositions.]

Φησὶ δὲ καὶ ὅτι ἓν ἐφρόνουν πάντες, οὐδ' ἐν τούτῳ ὁρῶν ὅτι ἀρχῆθεν περὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πεπιστευμένοις θείοις εἶναι βιβλίοις ἐκδοχὴν γεγόνασι διαφωνίαι τῶν πιστευόντων. Ἔτι γοῦν τῶν ἀποστόλων κηρυσσόντων καὶ τῶν αὐτοπτῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκόντων τὰ ἐκείνου μαθήματα, ζήτησις οὐκ ὀλίγη πρὸς ἀλλήλους γεγένηται παρὰ τοῖς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων πιστεύουσι περὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐπερχομένων τῷ λόγῳ, πότερον δεῖ τὰ ἰουδαϊκὰ αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν ἔθη ἢ τὸ περὶ καθαρῶν καὶ ἀκαθάρτων βρωμάτων "βάρος" ἀφαιρεῖν ὡς οὐκ ἐπεῖγον ἀπὸ τῶν τὰ πάτρια καταλιπόντων ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ πιστευόντων τῷ Ἰησοῦ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς Παύλου ἐπιστολαῖς, γενομένου ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τῶν Ἰησοῦν ἑωρακότων, εὑρίσκεται λεγόμενά τινα ὡς ζητησάντων τινῶν περὶ ἀναστάσεως καὶ περὶ τοῦ "ἤδη" αὐτὴν "γεγονέναι" καὶ περὶ ἡμέρας κυρίου, πότερον "ἐνέστηκεν" ἢ μή. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ "ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλό μενοι" "περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἐναυάγησαν", δηλωτικόν ἐστιν ὅτι ἀπ' ἀρχῆς γεγόνασί τινες παρεκδοχαί, οὐδέπω, ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, πολλῶν τῶν πιστευόντων γεγενημένων.