Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">But let Celsus, and those who assent to his charges, tell us\r\nwhether it is at all like “an ass’s shadow,” that the Jewish\r\nprophets should have predicted the birth-place of Him who was\r\nto be the ruler of those who had lived righteous lives, and who\r\nare called the “heritage” of God;<a id=\"r253\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f253\"><sup>[253]</sup></a> and that Emmanuel should be\r\nconceived by a virgin; and that such signs and wonders should\r\nbe performed by Him who was the subject of prophecy; and that\r\nHis word should have such speedy course, that the voice of His\r\napostles should go forth into all the earth; and that He should\r\nundergo certain sufferings after His condemnation by the Jews;\r\nand that He should rise again from the dead. For was it\r\nby chance<a id=\"r254\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f254\"><sup>[254]</sup></a> that the prophets made these announcements, with\r\nno persuasion of their truth in their minds,<a id=\"r255\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f255\"><sup>[255]</sup></a> moving them not\r\nonly to speak, but to deem their announcements worthy of\r\nbeing committed to writing? And did so great a nation as\r\nthat of the Jews, who had long ago received a country of\r\ntheir own wherein to dwell, recognise certain men as prophets,\r\nand reject others as utterers of false predictions, without any\r\nconviction of the soundness of the distinction? And was\r\nthere no motive which induced them to class with the books of\r\nMoses, which were held as sacred, the words of those persons\r\nwho were afterwards deemed to be prophets? And can those\r\nwho charge the Jews and Christians with folly, show us how the\r\nJewish nation could have continued to subsist, had there existed\r\namong them no promise of the knowledge of future events?\r\nand how, while each of the surrounding nations believed,\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_87\">87</span>agreeably to their ancient institutions, that they received oracles\r\nand predictions from those whom they accounted gods, this\r\npeople alone, who were taught to view with contempt all those\r\nwho were considered gods by the heathen, as not being gods,\r\nbut demons, according to the declaration of the prophets, “For\r\nall the gods of the nations are demons,”<a id=\"r256\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f256\"><sup>[256]</sup></a> had among them no\r\none who professed to be a prophet, and who could restrain\r\nsuch as, from a desire to know the future, were ready to desert<a id=\"r257\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f257\"><sup>[257]</sup></a>\r\nto the demons of other nations? Judge, then, whether it\r\nwere not a necessity, that as the whole nation had been taught\r\nto despise the deities of other lands, they should have had an\r\nabundance of prophets, who made known events which were of\r\nfar greater importance in themselves,<a id=\"r258\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f258\"><sup>[258]</sup></a> and which surpassed\r\nthe oracles of all other countries.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK III.","Chapter II."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-134"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"d5fa1e07863addad86bbe7a43bf35b01914979c3bf7836598a3b2124b0b4d789","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie","W. H. Cairns"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70693-f254","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 1872 English edition; listed translators died 1889 and 1872. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f254","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f254\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r254\">254</a>.  </span><span lang=\"grc\">ἆρα γὰρ ὡς ἔτυχε.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f254","text_sha256":"240d8801056fc548b0fb65328f9a11bd64388d01b58873c7f22ec7a8cbc2e943","verified":false,"work_id":null}

references: [] | work_id: | origin: existing-private-derived-record | source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f254