Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">And besides this, one may well wonder how it happened\r\nthat the disciples—if, as the calumniators of Jesus say, they\r\ndid not see him after his resurrection from the dead, and\r\nwere not persuaded of his divinity—were not afraid to endure\r\nthe same sufferings with their master, and to expose themselves\r\nto danger, and to leave their native country to teach,\r\naccording to the desire of Jesus, the doctrine delivered to\r\nthem by him. For I think that no one who candidly\r\nexamines the facts would say that these men devoted themselves\r\nto a life of danger for the sake of the doctrine of\r\nJesus, without a profound belief which he had wrought in\r\ntheir minds of its truth, not only teaching them to conform\r\nto his precepts, but others also, and to conform, moreover,\r\nwhen manifest destruction to life impended over him who\r\nventured to introduce these new opinions into all places\r\nand before all audiences, and who could retain as his friend\r\nno human being who adhered to the former opinions and\r\nusages. For did not the disciples of Jesus see, when they\r\nventured to prove not only to the Jews from their prophetic\r\nScriptures that this is he who was spoken of by the prophets,\r\nbut also to the other heathen nations, that he who was\r\ncrucified yesterday or the day before underwent this death\r\nvoluntarily on behalf of the human race,—that this was\r\nanalogous to the case of those who have died for their\r\ncountry in order to remove pestilence, or barrenness, or\r\ntempests? For it is probable that there is in the nature\r\nof things, for certain mysterious reasons which are difficult\r\nto be understood by the multitude, such a virtue that one\r\njust man, dying a voluntary death for the common good,\r\nmight be the means of removing wicked spirits, which are\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_431\">431</span>the cause of plagues, or barrenness, or tempests, or similar\r\ncalamities. Let those, therefore, who would disbelieve the\r\nstatement that Jesus died on the cross on behalf of men, say\r\nwhether they also refuse to accept the many accounts current\r\nboth among Greeks and Barbarians, of persons who\r\nhave laid down their lives for the public advantage, in order\r\nto remove those evils which had fallen upon cities and\r\ncountries? Or will they say that such events actually\r\nhappened, but that no credit is to be attached to that account\r\nwhich makes this so-called man to have died to ensure\r\nthe destruction of a mighty evil spirit, the ruler of evil\r\nspirits, who had held in subjection the souls of all men upon\r\nearth? And the disciples of Jesus, seeing this and much\r\nmore (which, it is probable, they learned from Jesus in\r\nprivate), and being filled, moreover, with a divine power\r\n(since it was no mere poetical virgin that endowed them with\r\nstrength and courage, but the true wisdom and understanding\r\nof God), exerted all their efforts “to become distinguished\r\namong all men,” not only among the Argives, but among\r\nall the Greeks and Barbarians alike, and “so bear away for\r\nthemselves a glorious renown.”<a id=\"r1172\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f1172\"><sup>[1172]</sup></a></p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN CONTRA CELSUM.","ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. BOOK I.","Chapter XXXI."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-429"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"3f3a4c5834c0d8488468fff2b441c41c924003092f7b5bce4abad93be82373ab","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f1172","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":"f1172","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1172\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1172\">1172</a>.  </span><abbr class=\"spell\">Cf.</abbr> Homer’s <i>Iliad</i>, book <abbr title=\"five\">v.</abbr> 2, 3.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f1172","text_sha256":"1d3c78c8fafd5120fa387f6e9d243dbca8b1fbd3a0fbcf2af9950f3640f55d2b","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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