Chapter LXV.

But since he asserts that “you may hear all those who differ so widely saying, ‘The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world,’” we shall show the falsity of such a statement.  For there are certain heretical sects which do not receive the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, as the two sects of Ebionites, and those who are termed Encratites.1202    [Irenæus, vol. i. p. 353.]  Those, then, who do not regard the apostle as a holy and wise man, will not adopt his language, and say, “The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.”  And consequently in this point, too, Celsus is guilty of falsehood.  He continues, moreover, to linger over the accusations which he brings against the diversity of sects which exist, but does not appear to me to be accurate in the language which he employs, nor to have carefully observed or understood how it is that those Christians who have made progress in their studies say that they are possessed of greater knowledge than the Jews; and also, whether they acknowledge the same Scriptures, but interpret them differently, or whether they do not recognise these books as divine.  For we find both of these views prevailing among the sects.  He then continues:  “Although they have no foundation for the doctrine, let us examine the system itself; and, in the first place, let us mention the corruptions which they have made through ignorance and misunderstanding, when in the discussion of elementary principles they express their opinions in the most absurd manner on things which they do not understand, such as the following.”  And then, to certain expressions which are continually in the mouths of the believers in Christianity, he opposes certain others from the writings of the philosophers, with the object of making it appear that the noble sentiments which Celsus supposes to be used by Christians have been expressed in better and clearer language by the philosophers, in order that he might drag away to the study of philosophy those who are caught by opinions which at once evidence their noble and religious character.  We shall, however, here terminate the fifth book, and begin the sixth with what follows.

Ἐπεὶ δέ φησιν ὅτι πάντων ἀκούσει τῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διεστηκότων λεγόντων τό· "Ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ", καὶ τοῦτο ψεῦδος διελέγξομεν. Εἰσὶ γάρ τινες αἱρέσεις τὰς Παύλου ἐπιστολὰς τοῦ ἀποστόλου μὴ προσιέμεναι, ὥσπερ Ἐβιωναῖοι ἀμφότεροι καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι Ἐγκρατηταί. Οὐκ ἂν οὖν οἱ μὴ χρώμενοι τῷ ἀποστόλῳ ὡς μακαρίῳ τινὶ καὶ σοφῷ λέγοιεν τό· "Ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύ ρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ"· διὸ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὁ Κέλσος ψεύδεται. Καὶ ἐπιδιατρίβει γε κατηγορῶν τῆς ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι διαφο ρᾶς· οὐ πάνυ δέ μοι δοκεῖ διαρθροῦν ἃ λέγει οὐδ' ἐπι μελῶς αὐτὰ τεθεωρηκέναι οὐδὲ κατανενοηκέναι, πῶς πλεῖον Ἰουδαίων ἐπίστασθαι λέγουσιν ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις διαβεβηκότες Χριστιανοί, καὶ πότερον τοῖς μὲν βιβλίοις συγκατατιθέμενοι τὸν δὲ νοῦν ἀντεξηγούμενοι, ἢ οὐδὲ συγκατατιθέμενοι τοῖς ἐκείνων γράμμασιν· ἑκάτερα γὰρ εὕροιμεν ἂν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι. Μετὰ ταῦτά φησι· Φέρ' οὖν, εἰ καὶ μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν τοῦ δόγματος ἔχουσιν, αὐτὸν ἐξετάσωμεν τὸν λόγον· πρότερον δὲ ὅσα παρακηκοότες ὑπ' ἀγνοίας διαφθείρουσιν, οὐκ ἐμμελῶς ἐν ἀρχαῖς εὐθὺς ἀπαυθαδιαζόμενοι περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἴσασι, λεκτέον· ἔστιν δὲ τάδε. Καὶ εὐθέως λέξεσί τισι, τοῖς πιστεύουσι τῷ Χριστιανῶν λόγῳ συνεχῶς ὀνομαζομέναις, ἀντιπαρατίθησιν ἀπὸ τῶν φιλοσόφων, βουλόμενος τὰ καλὰ τῶν νομιζομένων Κέλσῳ παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς λέγεσθαι καὶ βέλτιον καὶ τρανότερον εἰρῆσθαι παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν, ἵνα περισπάσῃ ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν τοὺς ἁλισκομένους ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτόθεν ἐμφαινόντων δογμάτων τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ εὐσεβές. Καὶ τὸν πέμπτον δὴ τόμον αὐτόθι καταπαύσαντες ἀρξώμεθα τοῦ ἕκτου ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς.