{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">With some such object as this in view does Celsus seem to\r\nhave been actuated, when he alleged that Christians term the\r\nCreator an “accursed divinity;” in order that he who believes\r\nthese charges of his against us, should, if possible, arise and\r\nexterminate the Christians as the most impious of mankind.\r\nConfusing, moreover, things that are distinct,<a id=\"r1174\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1174\"><sup>[1174]</sup></a> he states also\r\nthe reason why the God of the Mosaic cosmogony is termed\r\n“accursed,” asserting that “such is his character, and worthy\r\nof execration in the opinion of those who so regard him, inasmuch\r\nas he pronounced a curse upon the serpent, who introduced\r\nthe first human beings to the knowledge of good and\r\nevil.” Now he ought to have known that those who have\r\nespoused the cause of the serpent, because he gave good advice\r\nto the first human beings, and who go far beyond the Titans and\r\nGiants of fable, and are on this account called Ophites, are so\r\nfar from being Christians, that they bring accusations against\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_367\">367</span>Jesus to as great a degree as Celsus himself; and they do not\r\nadmit any one into their assembly<a id=\"r1175\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1175\"><sup>[1175]</sup></a> until he has uttered maledictions\r\nagainst Jesus. See, then, how irrational is the procedure\r\nof Celsus, who, in his discourse against the Christians,\r\nrepresents as such those who will not even listen to the <i>name</i> of\r\nJesus, or admit even that He was a wise man, or a person of\r\nvirtuous<a id=\"r1176\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1176\"><sup>[1176]</sup></a> character! What, then, could evince greater folly or\r\nmadness, not only on the part of those who wish to derive their\r\nname from the serpent as the author of good,<a id=\"r1177\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1177\"><sup>[1177]</sup></a> but also on the\r\npart of Celsus, who thinks that the accusations with which the\r\nOphites<a id=\"r1178\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1178\"><sup>[1178]</sup></a> are charged, are chargeable also against the Christians!\r\nLong ago, indeed, that Greek philosopher who preferred a state\r\nof poverty,<a id=\"r1179\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1179\"><sup>[1179]</sup></a> and who exhibited the pattern of a happy life,\r\nshowing that he was not excluded from happiness although he\r\nwas possessed of nothing,<a id=\"r1180\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1180\"><sup>[1180]</sup></a> termed himself a Cynic; while these\r\nimpious wretches, as not being human beings, whose enemy\r\nthe serpent is, but as being serpents, pride themselves upon\r\nbeing called Ophites from the serpent, which is an animal\r\nmost hostile to and greatly dreaded by man, and boast of one\r\nEuphrates<a id=\"r1181\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1181\"><sup>[1181]</sup></a> as the introducer of these unhallowed opinions.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VI.","Chapter XXVIII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-421"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"c994f953b0321ab0d8318ac216905dae3ef42e998a9b935ecdb07f8801f2d1f2","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-f1179","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":"f1179","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1179\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1179\">1179</a>. </span><span lang=\"grc\">τὴν εὐτέλειαν ἀγαπήσας.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1179","text_sha256":"383dd9324c4567d2603380178d582a694b0d12853521e89ff395776e6376a7f1","verified":false,"work_id":null}