Celsus And Origen: Inverting The Order (part four)

Celsus was a Roman philosopher who opposed Christianity.  Among his many points of attack, he accused Christians of a lack of patriotism toward Rome.  He wrote his work, called The True Doctrine in 177 AD.

Ambrose requested to Origen that he write a response to Celsus. Origen did so in 248 AD, quoting Celsus extensively.

The first thing to note is that Origen wrote in response to arguments, not to a man, since Celsus was likely long dead.  But six decades after it was written, Celsus' book was deemed problematic enough by Ambrose that he requested Origen to write a response.

The second thing to note is that the defense of Christianity that Origen wrote in 248 AD was consistent with the faith that Celsus had hated enough to write against in 177 AD.

Therefore, be sensitive both to the practices of second century Christians that Celsus was trying to refute, and the defense offered by third century Origen.  By doing so, we will see a consensus between second and third century Christians on the topic that follows.

To begin our present purposes, Celsus argued that if Christians will not honor the Roman gods (and Caesar was among them), then he wished Christians would not grow up to marriageable age, nor get married, nor have children, nor do anything else except to depart the world with no posterity so that Christianity will cease to exist.

Nasty, eh?  But it reminds me of the self-empowered preacher who made the news by saying that all homosexuals should be locked in pens until they all died off.  And the world frequently reminds us all about that preacher, and uses him as part of their apologetic; and because of him many people were led to mock and blaspheme Christ.

Back more strictly on topic, here are several chapters, or parts of chapters, from Book 8 of Origen's book Against Celsus. Numbers in brackets denote chapters:

[56] Even though by his words Celsus dismisses us utterly from life in order that, as he supposes, this race of ours may entirely cease to exist on earth, yet we who are concerned with the business of our Creator will live according to the laws of God....  For we worship the Lord our God, and serve Him only, praying that we may become imitators of Christ....  That is why we do not render the customary honor to the beings whom, Celsus says, earthly things have been entrusted -- because "no one can serve two masters."  We cannot at the same time serve God and mammon, whether the name refers to any one particular thing or to many....  It is preferable for us to dishonor mammon by the transgression of the law of mammon in order to pay honor to God by keeping God's law, rather than to dishonor God by the transgression of the law of God in order to pay honor to mammon by keeping the law of mammon.... 

[65] We ought to despise the kindly disposition of men and of emperors if to propitiate them means not only that we have to commit murders and acts of licentiousness and savagery, but also that we have to blaspheme the God of the universe or make some servile and cringing utterance....

Celsus argued that if every Roman followed the example of Christians, then the emperor would be "abandoned, alone, and deserted" and would not be able to stand against enemies:

[68] Celsus goes on to say: "We must not disobey the ancient writer, who said long ago, 'Let one be king, whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed;'" and adds: "If you set aside this maxim, you will deservedly suffer for it at the hands of the king. For if all [Romans] were to do the same as you [Christians], there would be nothing to prevent his [the king] being left in utter solitude and desertion, and the affairs of the earth would fall into the hands of the wildest and most lawless barbarians; and then there would no longer remain among men any of the glory of your religion or of the true wisdom...." 

But we are far from setting aside the notion of a providence, and of things happening directly or indirectly through the agency of providence. And the king will not "inflict deserved punishment" upon us, if we say that it wasn't the son of crafty Saturn who gave him his kingdom, but He who "removes and sets up kings." And I wish that all were to follow my example in...maintaining the divine origin of the kingdom, and observing the precept to "honour the king"! In these circumstances the king will not "be left in utter solitude and desertion," neither will "the affairs of the world fall into the hands of the most impious and wild barbarians." For if, in the words of Celsus, "they do as I do," then it is evident that even the barbarians, when they yield obedience to the word of God, will become most obedient to the law, and most humane; and every form of worship will be destroyed except the religion of Christ, which will alone prevail. And indeed it will one day triumph, as its principles take possession of the minds of men more and more every day.

Christians in 177 AD, and their brotherly defenders in 248 AD, will not war at all:

[70] But if all the Romans, according to the supposition of Celsus, embrace the Christian faith, they will, when they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather, they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine power which promised to save five entire cities for the sake of fifty just persons. For men of God are assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the order of the world; and society is held together as long as the salt is uncorrupted: for "if the salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. He that has ears, let him hear" the meaning of these words. When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting in the protection of Him who said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And truly He has overcome the world. Therefore the world prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage. Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, "I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengthens me." For of "two sparrows which are sold for a farthing," as the Scripture says, "not one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven." And so completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.

Christian refusal to go to war is in response to a higher calling, from obedience to be crucified with Christ, from citizenship not of this world, with love for their enemies. It is not a rejection of a State's right to bear the sword: 

[73] In the next place, Celsus urges us "to help the king with all our might, and to labour with him in the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and if he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army along with him." To this our answer is, that we do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, and that, so to say, a divine help, "putting on the whole armour of God." And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the apostle, "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority;" and the more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who are [pagan] priests at certain shrines, and those who attend to certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the [pagan] priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle, Christians too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!" And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army— an army of piety— by offering our prayers to God.

[74] And if Celsus would have us to lead armies in defence of our country, let him know that we do this too, and that not for the purpose of being seen by men, or of vainglory. For "in secret," and in our own hearts, there are prayers which ascend as from priests in behalf of our fellow citizens. And Christians are benefactors of their country more than others. For they train up citizens, and inculcate piety to the Supreme Being; and they promote those whose lives in the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, "You have been faithful in the smallest city, come into a great one," where "God stands in the assembly of the gods, and judges the gods in the midst;" and He reckons you among them, if you no more "die as a man, or fall as one of the princes."

Wrestle with the following, as I do as well. Origen and the earlier Christians whom Celsus was condemning refused not just going to war but also refused serving in public office:

[75] Celsus also urges us to "take office in the government of the country, if that is required for the maintenance of the laws and the support of religion." But we recognise in each state the existence of another national organization, founded by the Word of God, and we exhort those who are mighty in word and of blameless life to rule over Churches. Those who are ambitious of ruling we reject; but we constrain those who, through excess of modesty, are not easily induced to take a public charge in the Church of God. And those who rule over us well are under the constraining influence of the great King, whom we believe to be the Son of God, God the Word. And if those who govern in the Church, and are called rulers of the divine nation— that is, the Church— rule well, they rule in accordance with the divine commands, and never suffer themselves to be led astray by worldly policy. And it is not for the purpose of escaping public duties that Christians decline public offices, but that they may reserve themselves for a diviner and more necessary service in the Church of God— for the salvation of men. And this service is at once necessary and right. They take charge of all— of those that are within, that they may day by day lead better lives, and of those that are without, that they may come to abound in holy words and in deeds of piety; and that, while thus worshipping God truly, and training up as many as they can in the same way, they may be filled with the word of God and the law of God, and thus be united with the Supreme God through His Son the Word, Wisdom, Truth, and Righteousness, who unites to God all who are resolved to conform their lives in all things to the law of God.

We will continue to pursue the position of Christian non-violence in the next post.