Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">Celsus, indeed, evinced a slight knowledge of Scripture\r\nwhen he made Jesus say, that it is “a certain Satan who contrives\r\nsuch devices;” although he begs the question<a id=\"r145\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f145\"><sup>[145]</sup></a> when he\r\nasserts that “Jesus did not deny that these works have in them\r\nnothing of divinity, but proceed from wicked men,” for he\r\nmakes things which differ in kind to be the same. Now, as a\r\nwolf is not of the same species as a dog, although it may appear\r\nto have some resemblance in the figure of its body and in its\r\nvoice, nor a common wood-pigeon<a id=\"r146\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f146\"><sup>[146]</sup></a> the same as a dove,<a id=\"r147\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f147\"><sup>[147]</sup></a> so there\r\nis no resemblance between what is done by the power of God\r\nand what is the effect of sorcery. And we might further say,\r\nin answer to the calumnies of Celsus, Are those to be regarded\r\nas miracles which are wrought through sorcery by wicked demons,\r\nbut those not which are performed by a nature that is holy and\r\ndivine? and does human life endure the worse, but never\r\nreceive the better? Now it appears to me that we must lay it\r\ndown as a general principle, that as, wherever anything that is\r\nevil would make itself to be of the same nature with the good,\r\nthere must by all means be something that is good opposed to\r\nthe evil; so also, in opposition to those things which are brought\r\nabout by sorcery, there must also of necessity be some things\r\nin human life which are the result of divine power. And it\r\nfollows from the same, that we must either annihilate both, and\r\nassert that neither exists, or, assuming the one, and particularly\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_54\">54</span>the evil, admit also the reality of the good. Now, if one were\r\nto lay it down that works are wrought by means of sorcery, but\r\nwould not grant that there are also works which are the product\r\nof divine power, he would seem to me to resemble him\r\nwho should admit the existence of sophisms and plausible arguments,\r\nwhich have the appearance of establishing the truth,\r\nalthough really undermining it, while denying that truth had\r\nanywhere a home among men, or a dialectic which differed from\r\nsophistry. But if we once admit that it is consistent with the\r\nexistence of magic and sorcery (which derive their power from\r\nevil demons, who are spell-bound by elaborate incantations, and\r\nbecome subject to sorcerers) that some works must be found\r\namong men which proceed from a power that is divine, why\r\nshall we not test those who profess to perform them by their\r\nlives and morals, and the consequences of their miracles, viz.\r\nwhether they tend to the injury of men or to the reformation\r\nof conduct? What minister of evil demons, <i>e.g.</i>, can do such\r\nthings? and by means of what incantations and magic arts?\r\nAnd who, on the other hand, is it that, having his soul and his\r\nspirit, and I imagine also his body, in a pure and holy state,\r\nreceives a divine spirit, and performs such works in order to\r\nbenefit men, and to lead them to believe on the true God?\r\nBut if we must once investigate (without being carried away\r\nby the miracles themselves) who it is that performs them by\r\nhelp of a good, and who by help of an evil power, so that we\r\nmay neither slander all without discrimination, nor yet admire\r\nand accept all as divine, will it not be manifest, from what\r\noccurred in the times of Moses and Jesus, when entire nations\r\nwere established in consequence of their miracles, that these\r\nmen wrought by means of divine power what they are recorded\r\nto have performed? For wickedness and sorcery would not\r\nhave led a whole nation to rise not only above idols and images\r\nerected by men, but also above all created things, and to ascend\r\nto the uncreated origin of the God of the universe.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK II.","Chapter LI."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-95"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"c124f7b5c69ba8abe19e578b2cbba28c6fb092109e9065138f2e1a99e7a2d389","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-f147","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":"f147","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f147\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r147\">147</a>.  </span><span lang=\"grc\">περιστερά.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f147","text_sha256":"ef51791d9642d754df6eab22009e2fa77d624d7c2c6a6c0054ddce05c204c57f","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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