Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">And since Celsus has termed the apostles of Jesus men of\r\ninfamous notoriety, saying that they were tax-gatherers and\r\nsailors of the vilest character, we have to remark, with respect\r\nto this charge, that he seems, in order to bring an accusation\r\nagainst Christianity, to believe the Gospel accounts only where\r\nhe pleases, and to express his disbelief of them, in order that\r\nhe may not be forced to admit the manifestations of Divinity\r\nrelated in these same books; whereas one who sees the spirit\r\nof truth by which the writers are influenced, ought, from\r\ntheir narration of things of inferior importance, to believe also\r\nthe account of divine things. Now in the general Epistle of\r\nBarnabas, from which perhaps Celsus took the statement that\r\nthe apostles were notoriously wicked men, it is recorded that\r\n“Jesus selected His own apostles, as persons who were more\r\nguilty of sin than all other evil-doers.”<a id=\"r1237\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f1237\"><sup>[1237]</sup></a> And in the Gospel\r\naccording to Luke, Peter says to Jesus, “Depart from me, O\r\nLord, for I am a sinful man.”<a id=\"r1238\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f1238\"><sup>[1238]</sup></a> Moreover, Paul, who himself\r\nalso at a later time became an apostle of Jesus, says in his\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_469\">469</span>Epistle to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying, that Jesus\r\nChrist came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the\r\nchief.”<a id=\"r1239\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f1239\"><sup>[1239]</sup></a> And I do not know how Celsus should have forgotten\r\nor not have thought of saying something about Paul, the\r\nfounder, after Jesus, of the churches that are in Christ. He\r\nsaw, probably, that anything he might say about that apostle\r\nwould require to be explained, in consistency with the fact\r\nthat, after being a persecutor of the church of God, and a\r\nbitter opponent of believers, who went so far even as to deliver\r\nover the disciples of Jesus to death, so great a change afterwards\r\npassed over him, that he preached the gospel of Jesus\r\nfrom Jerusalem round about to Illyricum, and was ambitious\r\nto carry the glad tidings where he needed not to build upon\r\nanother man’s foundation, but to places where the gospel\r\nof God in Christ had not been proclaimed at all. What\r\nabsurdity, therefore, is there, if Jesus, desiring to manifest to\r\nthe human race the power which He possesses to heal souls,\r\nshould have selected notorious and wicked men, and should\r\nhave raised them to such a degree of moral excellence, that\r\nthey became a pattern of the purest virtue to all who were\r\nconverted by their instrumentality to the gospel of Christ?</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN CONTRA CELSUM.","ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. BOOK I.","Chapter LXIII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-461"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"f7dd3444195df5e9b37a0c66f42c30bc55dc0b99094dbb10065c86310ba575cb","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f1237","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f1237","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1237\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1237\">1237</a>.  </span>Epistle of Barnabas, <abbr title=\"chapter\">chap.</abbr> <abbr title=\"five\">v.</abbr> (<abbr class=\"spell\">Cf.</abbr> Ante-Nicene Library, <abbr title=\"volume\">vol.</abbr> Apostolic\r\nFathers, <abbr title=\"page\">p.</abbr> 108.)</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f1237","text_sha256":"424c4efae9abe5cf1bf20f4a95f50f4e1841a034752d8bb687f77223bbbd9f5e","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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