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CELSUS

Celsus (Greek: Κέλσος) was a 2nd century Greek philosopher and opponent of Early Christianity. He is known for his literary work, The True Word (Account, Doctrine or Discourse) (Λόγος Ἀληθής), preserved by Origen which is the earliest known comprehensive attack on Christianity. According to Celsus Jesus was not the Messiah but rather a poor Jewish peasant who practiced sorcery and presented himself as a god. Although anti-Christian in nature, this discourse confirms much of what historians know about Jesus.

The author and his work

Celsus, who was born early in the second Century was a major opponent to Christianity. During the hundred or so years following the crucifixion, opposition to Jesus had grown. Celsus reduced this anti-Christian tradition to writing in his work titled The True Word, which is the earliest known written comprehensive attack on the Christian Faith. Modern scholars believe the The True Word was widely read and "had a lasting impact". It has given scholars valuable insight into the Jewish oral tradition because Celsus "made extensive use of contemporary Jewish polemic against Christians". ^[1]

Celsus was very well informed about 2nd century Christian groups, which were flourishing in Rome and Alexandria. He was interested in Ancient Egyptian religion,^[2] and he seemed to know of Jewish logos-theology, both of which suggest The True Word was composed in Alexandria.^[3] Celsus wrote at a time when Christianity was being actively persecuted ^[4] and when there seems to have been more than one emperor.^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]^[9]

Celsus became a major challenge to Christianity orthodoxy. It was during the reign of Philip the Arab that Origen^[10] received this work for rebuttal. ^[11] "So careful is Origen to cite the very words of his opponent" that scholars have been to reconstruct the text of Celsus from Origen's refutation of The True Word. Thus about ninty percent of the treatise can be reconstructed with "practical certainty". ^[12] ^[13] ^[14]

Celsus' criticism on Jesus and his followers

Celsus mounts a wide criticism against Jesus as the founder of the Christian faith. He discounts or disparages Jesus' ancestry, conception, birth, childhood, ministry, death, resurrection, and continuing influence. According to Celsus, Jesus' ancestors came from a Jewish village. His mother was a poor country girl who earned her living by spinning cloth. He worked his miracles by sorcery and was a small, homely man. This Rabbi Jesus kept all Jewish customs, including sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem. He gathered only a few followers and taught them his worst habits, including begging for money. These disciples, amounting to "ten boatmen and a couple of tax collectors" were not respectable. The reports of his resurrection came from a hysterical female, and belief in the resurrection was the result of Jesus' sorcery and the crazed thinking of his followers, all for the purpose of impressing others and increasing the chance for others to become beggars.^[15]^[16]

Celsus stated in no uncertain terms that Jesus was the bastard child of the Roman soldier Pantera. These charges of illegitimacy are the earliest datable statement of the Jewish charge that Jesus was conceived as the result of adultery, (see Jesus in the Talmud) and that his true father was a Roman soldier named Panthera. Panthera was a common name among Roman soldiers of that period. It also has its similarity to the Greek term parthenos, which is often translated as "virgin." ^[17]^[18]

It is also interesting to note that Celsus refers to Jesus' father by name as Panthera.^[19] It is taken by Celsus as given that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier of this name. There is a tomb of a Roman soldier named Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera, which was found in Bad Kreuznach, Germany; some scholars identify the historical Pantera with this Pantera.

According to Celsus, Jesus has no standing in the Hebrew Bible prophecies and talk of his resurrection was foolishness.^[16]

Authenticity

Most scholars believe the passages preserved by Origin to be authentic. There are no signs of interpolation, nor would Origin be likely to falsify such anti-Christian material. (See the Criterion of embarrassment)

Origin wrote in 248, and although the Church was under no widespread persecution, the atmosphere was full of conflict. (See Crisis of the Third Century) Christian pride in his faith was blended with a natural anxiety stemming from Celsus' attacks on Christianity. It was at this point that Origin brought to light again a book written in the days of Marcus Aurelius but still in circulation. Sometimes quoting, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, Origen reproduces and replies to Celsus' arguments. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of The True Word,^[17] most scholars agree that we likely have authentic material from Celsus.^[20] ^[21]

Celsus and the historical Jesus

Celsus' importance and credibility as an early source re the Historical Jesus lies in the fact that Celsus was a detached pagan observer, interested in, but with no strong feelings about, religion. He sums up the "opposition view" to Jesus. ^[22]

If his were the only authentic source to survive until today, and had to be read alone, it would tell us the following:

There was a Jew named Jesus, who followed the teachings of his faith. ^[23]

His "father" was a carpenter. ^[24]

His mother was accused of conceiving out of wedlock & his true father was a Roman soldier named Pantera.

^[25]

Jesus went to Egypt

Jesus had approximatly 10 disciples, who were boat men (fisherman?) and tax collectors

Jesus performed miraculous signs, which were perceived by many as sorcery

As Jesus became more widely known he was charged with practicing magic and leading Israel astray

The reports of his resurrection came from a hysterical female and spread.

Jesus and his followers embraced poverty.

^[16]^[26]

References

^ Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 65
^ Origen, Contra Celsum 3, 17, 19; 8, 58. He quotes an Egyptian musician named Dionysius in CC 6, 41.
^ Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxviii-xxix
^ Origen, Contra Celsum, 8, 69
^ Origen, Contra Celsum, 8, 71
^ Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxvi
^ Origen, Contra Celsum, 1, 68
^ "Celsus". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-05-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Chadwick, H. Origen: Contra Celsum, introduction.
^ Chadwick, H., Origen: Contra Celsum. Cambridge University Press (1965), p. xiv. The work can be dated to this period by a statement of Eusebius, HE VI, 36, 2
^ Origen, Contra Celsum, book 1, preface: "I know not, my pious Ambrosius, why you wished me to write a reply to the false charges brought by Celsus against the Christians, and to his accusations directed against the faith of the Churches in his treatise; ... I venture, then, to say that this "apology" which you require me to compose will somewhat weaken that defense (of Christianity) which rests on facts, and that power of Jesus which is manifest to those who are not altogether devoid of perception. Notwithstanding, that we may not have the appearance of being reluctant to undertake the task which you have enjoined, we have endeavored, to the best of our ability, to suggest, by way of answer to each of the statements advanced by Celsus, what seemed to us adapted to refute them, although his arguments have no power to shake the faith of any (true) believer."
^ New Catholic encyclopedia, Volume 3, Edition 2, Thomson/Gale Pub, 2003. pp 329-330
^ Origen, Contra Celsum, preface 4.
^ Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxviii
^ Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 65-66
^ ^a ^b ^c Raymond Edward Brown, Mary in the New Testament, Paulist Press, 1978. pp 261-262
^ ^a ^b James D. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity, Simon and Schuster, 2006. p 64
^ Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 67-68
^ Origen, Contra Celsus 1.32
^ Sir DavidBrewster, Sir David Brewster & Richard R. Yeo, The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, Volume 8, Routledge, 1999. p 362
^ Bernhard Lang, International Review of Biblical Studies, Volume 54, Publisher BRILL, 2009. p 401
^ Frank Leslie Cross & Elizabeth A. Livingstone, "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, 2005. p 314
^ Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 66
^ Peter Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, Princeton University Press, 2009 p 20
^ Penelope Duckworth, Mary: The Imagination of Her Heart, Cowley Publications, 2004. p 69
^ Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament: an introduction to the ancient evidence, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 111-120

External links

[1] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 65

[2] Origen, Contra Celsum 3, 17, 19; 8, 58. He quotes an Egyptian musician named Dionysius in CC 6, 41.

[3] Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxviii-xxix

[4] Origen, Contra Celsum, 8, 69

[5] Origen, Contra Celsum, 8, 71

[6] Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxvi

[7] Origen, Contra Celsum, 1, 68

[8] "Celsus". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-05-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[9] Chadwick, H. Origen: Contra Celsum, introduction.

[10] Chadwick, H., Origen: Contra Celsum. Cambridge University Press (1965), p. xiv. The work can be dated to this period by a statement of Eusebius, HE VI, 36, 2

[11] Origen, Contra Celsum, book 1, preface: "I know not, my pious Ambrosius, why you wished me to write a reply to the false charges brought by Celsus against the Christians, and to his accusations directed against the faith of the Churches in his treatise; ... I venture, then, to say that this "apology" which you require me to compose will somewhat weaken that defense (of Christianity) which rests on facts, and that power of Jesus which is manifest to those who are not altogether devoid of perception. Notwithstanding, that we may not have the appearance of being reluctant to undertake the task which you have enjoined, we have endeavored, to the best of our ability, to suggest, by way of answer to each of the statements advanced by Celsus, what seemed to us adapted to refute them, although his arguments have no power to shake the faith of any (true) believer."

[12] New Catholic encyclopedia, Volume 3, Edition 2, Thomson/Gale Pub, 2003. pp 329-330

[13] Origen, Contra Celsum, preface 4.

[14] Chadwick, H., Origen:Contra Celsum, CUP (1965), p. xxviii

[15] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 65-66

[Raymond_Edward_Brown_1978._pp_261-262-16] Raymond Edward Brown, Mary in the New Testament, Paulist Press, 1978. pp 261-262

[James_D._Tabor_2006._p_64-17] James D. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity, Simon and Schuster, 2006. p 64

[18] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 67-68

[19] Origen, Contra Celsus 1.32

[20] Sir DavidBrewster, Sir David Brewster & Richard R. Yeo, The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, Volume 8, Routledge, 1999. p 362

[21] Bernhard Lang, International Review of Biblical Studies, Volume 54, Publisher BRILL, 2009. p 401

[22] Frank Leslie Cross & Elizabeth A. Livingstone, "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, 2005. p 314

[23] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 66

[24] Peter Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud, Princeton University Press, 2009 p 20

[25] Penelope Duckworth, Mary: The Imagination of Her Heart, Cowley Publications, 2004. p 69

[26] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus outside the New Testament: an introduction to the ancient evidence, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 111-120

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
-[[File:Pantera Grabstein.jpg|thumb|320px|drawings of the tombstone of [[Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera]], a soldier who has ben claimed to be the "Pantera" named by Celsus]]
+[[File:Pantera Grabstein.jpg|thumb|320px|Drawings on the tombstone of [[Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera]], a soldier who has been claimed to be the "Pantera" named by Celsus]]
 {{Dablink|For other persons named Celsus, see [[Celsus (disambiguation)]].}}
-'''Celsus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ''{{polytonic|Κέλσος}}'') was a 2nd century [[Greeks|Greek]] [[philosophy|philosopher]] and opponent of [[Early Christianity]]. He is known for his literary work, ''[[The True Word]]'' (Account, Doctrine or Discourse) ({{polytonic|Λόγος Ἀληθής}}),  preserved by [[Origen]]. This work, c. 177  <ref>Henry Chadwick (ed.), ''Origen:Contra Celsum'', Cambridge University Press, 1980. p ix- xxix</ref>  is the earliest known comprehensive attack on [[Christianity]].
+'''Celsus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ''{{polytonic|Κέλσος}}'') was a 2nd century [[Greeks|Greek]] [[philosophy|philosopher]] and opponent of [[Early Christianity]]. He is known for his literary work, ''[[The True Word]]'' (Account, Doctrine or Discourse) ({{polytonic|Λόγος Ἀληθής}}),  preserved by [[Origen]] which is the earliest known comprehensive attack on [[Christianity]]. According to Celsus [[Jesus]] was not the [[Messiah]] but rather a poor Jewish peasant who practiced sorcery and presented himself as a god. Although anti-Christian in nature, this discourse confirms much of what historians know about Jesus.
-Celsus said that [[Jesus]] came from a [[Jewish]] village in the [[Holy Land]]. Jesus' mother was a poor Jewish girl. This girl's husband, who was a carpenter by trade, drove her away because of her adultery with a [[Roman]] soldier named [[Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera|Panthera]] (i.32). She gave birth to the bastard Jesus. In Egypt, Jesus became learned in sorcery and upon his return presented himself as a god. <ref>Robert E. Van Voorst, ''Jesus outside the New Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 64-65</ref>
 ==The author and his work==
+Celsus, who was born early in the second Century was a major opponent to Christianity. During the hundred or so years following the crucifixion, opposition to Jesus had grown. Celsus reduced this anti-Christian tradition to writing in his work titled ''The True Word'', which is the earliest known written comprehensive attack on the Christian Faith. Modern scholars believe the ''The True Word'' was widely read and "had a lasting impact". It has given scholars valuable insight into the Jewish oral tradition because Celsus "made extensive use of contemporary Jewish polemic against Christians". <ref>[https://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=+%22had+a+lasting+impact%22&gws_rd=ssl#hl=en&q=%22True+Doctrine+had+a+lasting+impact+%22+%22Celsus+made+extensive+use+of+contemporary+Jewish+polemic%22&tbm=bks Robert E. Van Voorst, ''Jesus outside the New Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 65]</ref>
-Celsus was the author of an anti-Christian work titled ''The True Word''.  This work was lost, but much of it is preserved word-for-word in the pages of a reply written by Origen.<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen:Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxviii</ref>  It was during the reign of [[Philip the Arab]] that Origen<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen: Contra Celsum''. Cambridge University Press (1965), p. xiv.  The work can be dated to this period by a statement of [[Eusebius]], ''HE'' VI, 36, 2</ref> received this work for rebuttal.<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', book 1, preface: "I know not, my pious Ambrosius, why you wished me to write a reply to the false charges brought by Celsus against the Christians, and to his accusations directed against the faith of the Churches in his treatise; ... I venture, then, to say that this "apology" which you require me to compose will somewhat weaken that defense (of Christianity) which rests on facts, and that power of Jesus which is manifest to those who are not altogether devoid of perception. Notwithstanding, that we may not have the appearance of being reluctant to undertake the task which you have enjoined, we have endeavored, to the best of our ability, to suggest, by way of answer to each of the statements advanced by Celsus, what seemed to us adapted to refute them, although his arguments have no power to shake the faith of any (true) believer."</ref>  Origen's refutation of ''The True Word'' contained its text,  interwoven with Origen's replies.  Origen's work has survived and thereby preserved Celsus' work with it.<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', preface 4.</ref>
 Celsus was very well informed about 2nd century [[Christian]] groups, which were flourishing in [[Early centers of Christianity#Rome|Rome]] and [[Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria|Alexandria]].  He was interested in [[Ancient Egyptian religion]],<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'' 3, 17, 19; 8, 58.  He quotes an Egyptian musician named Dionysius in ''CC'' 6, 41.</ref> and he seemed to know of [[Hellenistic Judaism|Jewish logos-theology]], both of which suggest ''The True Word'' was composed in Alexandria.<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen:Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxviii-xxix</ref> Celsus wrote at a time when Christianity was being actively persecuted <ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', 8, 69</ref> and when there seems to have been more than one emperor.<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', 8, 71</ref> <ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen:Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxvi</ref> <ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', 1, 68</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=290&letter=C |title=Celsus |coauthors=Richard Gottheil and Samuel Krauss |accessdate=2007-05-18 |format= |work=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] }}</ref><ref>Chadwick, H. ''Origen: Contra Celsum'', introduction.</ref>
+Celsus became a major challenge to Christianity orthodoxy. It was during the reign of [[Philip the Arab]] that Origen<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen: Contra Celsum''. Cambridge University Press (1965), p. xiv.  The work can be dated to this period by a statement of [[Eusebius]], ''HE'' VI, 36, 2</ref> received this work for rebuttal. <ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', book 1, preface: "I know not, my pious Ambrosius, why you wished me to write a reply to the false charges brought by Celsus against the Christians, and to his accusations directed against the faith of the Churches in his treatise; ... I venture, then, to say that this "apology" which you require me to compose will somewhat weaken that defense (of Christianity) which rests on facts, and that power of Jesus which is manifest to those who are not altogether devoid of perception. Notwithstanding, that we may not have the appearance of being reluctant to undertake the task which you have enjoined, we have endeavored, to the best of our ability, to suggest, by way of answer to each of the statements advanced by Celsus, what seemed to us adapted to refute them, although his arguments have no power to shake the faith of any (true) believer."</ref>
+"So careful is Origen to cite the very words of his opponent" that scholars have been to reconstruct the text of Celsus from Origen's refutation of ''The True Word''. Thus about ninty percent of the treatise can be reconstructed with "practical certainty". <ref>[https://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=about+nine-tenths+of+the+treatise+can+be+reconstructed+with+practical+certainty&=&gws_rd=ssl#hl=en&q=about+nine-tenths+of+the+treatise+%22can+be+reconstructed+with+practical+certainty%22&tbm=bks New Catholic encyclopedia, Volume 3, Edition 2, Thomson/Gale Pub, 2003. pp 329-330]</ref>
+<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', preface 4.</ref> <ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen:Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxviii</ref>
 ==Celsus' criticism on Jesus and his followers==
 Celsus mounts a wide criticism against Jesus as the founder of the Christian [[faith]]. He discounts or disparages Jesus' ancestry, conception, birth, childhood, ministry, death, [[resurrection]], and continuing influence.  According to Celsus, Jesus' ancestors came from a Jewish village. His mother was a poor country girl who earned her living by spinning cloth. He worked his [[miracles]] by sorcery and was a small, homely man. This Rabbi Jesus kept all Jewish customs, including sacrifice at the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. He gathered only a few followers and taught them his worst habits, including begging for money. These [[disciples]], amounting to "ten boatmen and a couple of tax collectors" were not respectable. The [[Resurrection appearances of Jesus|reports of his resurrection]] came from a hysterical female, and belief in the resurrection was the result of Jesus' sorcery and the crazed thinking of his followers, all for the purpose of impressing others  and increasing the chance for others to become beggars.<ref>Robert E. Van Voorst, ''Jesus outside the New Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 65-66</ref><ref name="Raymond Edward Brown 1978. pp 261-262">Raymond Edward Brown, ''Mary in the New Testament'',  Paulist Press, 1978. pp 261-262</ref>
@@ Line 23: / Line 26: @@
 ==Authenticity==
-Most scholars believe the passages preserved by Origin to be authentic. There are no signs of interpolation, nor would Origin be likely to falsify such anti Christian material. (See the [[Criterion of embarrassment]])
+Most scholars believe the passages preserved by Origin to be authentic. There are no signs of interpolation, nor would Origin be likely to falsify such anti-Christian material. (See the [[Criterion of embarrassment]])
-Origin wrote in 248,  and although the Church was under no widespread persecution, the atmosphere was full of conflict. (See [[Crisis of the Third Century]]) Christian pride in his faith was blended with a natural anxiety stemming from Celsus' attacks on Christianity. It was at this point that Origin brought to light again a book written in the days of [[Marcus Aurelius]] but still in circulation. Sometimes quoting, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, Origen reproduces and replies to  Celsus' arguments. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of ''The True Word'',<ref name="James D. Tabor 2006. p 64">James D. Tabor, ''The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity'', Simon and Schuster, 2006. p 64</ref> most scholars agree that we likely have authentic material from Celsus.<ref>Sir DavidBrewster,  Sir David Brewster  & Richard R. Yeo, ''The Edinburgh encyclopaedia'', Volume 8, Routledge, 1999.  p 362</ref><ref>Bernhard Lang, ''International Review of Biblical Studies'', Volume 54, Publisher BRILL, 2009. p 401</ref>
+Origin wrote in 248,  and although the Church was under no widespread persecution, the atmosphere was full of conflict. (See [[Crisis of the Third Century]]) Christian pride in his faith was blended with a natural anxiety stemming from Celsus' attacks on Christianity. It was at this point that Origin brought to light again a book written in the days of [[Marcus Aurelius]] but still in circulation. Sometimes quoting, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, Origen reproduces and replies to  Celsus' arguments. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of ''The True Word'',<ref name="James D. Tabor 2006. p 64">James D. Tabor, ''The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity'', Simon and Schuster, 2006. p 64</ref> most scholars agree that we likely have authentic material from Celsus.<ref>Sir DavidBrewster,  Sir David Brewster  & Richard R. Yeo, ''The Edinburgh encyclopaedia'', Volume 8, Routledge, 1999.  p 362</ref> <ref>Bernhard Lang, ''International Review of Biblical Studies'', Volume 54, Publisher BRILL, 2009. p 401</ref>
 ==Celsus and the historical Jesus==
-Celsus' importance and credibility as an early source re the [[Historical Jesus]] lies in the fact that he sums up the "opposition view" to Jesus.
+Celsus' importance and credibility as an early source re the [[Historical Jesus]] lies in the fact that Celsus was a detached pagan observer, interested in, but with no strong feelings about, religion. He sums up the "opposition view" to Jesus.  <ref>[http://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=celsus%27+attitude+detached+pagan#hl=en&q=%22Celsus'+attitude+is+that+of+a+detached+pagan+observer%2C+interested+in%2C+but+with+no+strong+feelings+about%2C+religion.%22&tbm=bks Frank Leslie Cross & Elizabeth A. Livingstone, "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', Oxford University Press, 2005. p 314]</ref>
-If his were the only source to survive until today, was authentic and had to be read alone, it would tell us the following:
+If his were the only authentic source to survive until today, and had to be read alone, it would tell us the following:
-* There was a Jew named Jesus, who followed  the teachings of his faith.
+* There was a Jew named Jesus, who followed  the teachings of his faith. <ref>[http://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Jesus+kept+all+Jewish+customs%22#hl=en&q=Jewish+%22Jesus+kept+all+Jewish+customs%22&tbm=bks Robert E. Van Voorst, ''Jesus outside the New Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. p 66]</ref>
+* His "father" was a carpenter. <ref>[https://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=+%22had+a+lasting+impact%22&gws_rd=ssl#hl=en&q=%22Celsus+portrays+Jesus'+parents+as+poor%3A+his+father+was+a+carpenter%22&tbm=bks Peter Schäfer, ''Jesus in the Talmud'', Princeton University Press, 2009 p 20]</ref>
-* His "father" was a carpenter.
-* His mother was accused of conceiving out of wedlock
+* His mother was accused of conceiving out of wedlock & his true father was a Roman soldier named Pantera.
+<ref>[http://www.google.de/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22Moreover%2C+the+circumstances+of+his+birth+were+highly+suspect%3A+his+mother%2C+according+to+Celsus%2C+had+been+seduced+by+a+Roman+soldier+and+given+birth+out+ofwedlock%22 Penelope Duckworth, ''Mary: The Imagination of Her Heart'', Cowley Publications, 2004. p 69]</ref>
-* His true father was a Roman soldier named Pantera & Jesus went to Egypt
+* Jesus went to Egypt
-* Jesus had a number of disciples, who were boat men and tax collectors
+* Jesus had approximatly 10 disciples, who were boat men (fisherman?) and tax collectors
 * Jesus performed miraculous signs, which were perceived by many as sorcery
@@ Line 51: / Line 56: @@
 <ref name="Raymond Edward Brown 1978. pp 261-262"/><ref>Robert E. Van Voorst, ''Jesus outside the New Testament: an introduction to the ancient evidence'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. pp 111-120</ref>
-==Subjects of Celsus' writings==
-Celsus shows himself familiar with the story of Jewish origins.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Dale B. |title=Inventing Superstition: From the Hippocratics to the Christians |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=2004 |isbn=0674015347 |pages=141, 143}}</ref>  Any pagan who wished to intimately understand and criticize Christianity had to begin by learning from the Jews, and this accounts for the opening chapters of his argument. He has a good knowledge of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] and of the [[Book of Enoch]] (v. 52), but does not make much use of the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]] or the [[Psalter]]. Regarding the books with which he was familiar his position is similar to that reflected in the contemporary Acts of the Martyrs of Scili. He speaks of a Christian collection of writings, and knew some parts of the synoptic gospels, but was influenced less by the ''[[Gospel of John]]''. There is more evidence of Pauline ideas than of Pauline letters.
-The gnostic sects and their writings were well known to Celsus (viii.15 and vi.25), and so was the work of [[Marcion]]. There are indications, too, of an acquaintance with [[Justin Martyr]] and the [[Sibylline oracles|Sibylline literature]] (vii. 53, cp.&nbsp;v.61). He is perfectly aware of the internal differences among Christians, and he is familiar with the various stages of development in the history of their religion. These are cleverly employed in order to heighten the impression of its instability. He plays off the various sects, the primitive age against the present, Christ against the apostles, the various revisions of the Bible against the trustworthiness of the text and so forth, though he admits that everything was not really so bad at first as it is at present.
-==Influence of Celsus==
-''The True Word'' had very little influence either on the mutual relations of Christianity and the Roman Empire, or on classical literature. Echoes of it are found in [[Tertullian]] and in [[Minucius Felix]], and then it lay forgotten until Origen gave it new life. A good deal of the neo‑Platonic polemic naturally went back to Celsus, and both the ideas and phrases of ''The True Word'' are found in [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] and [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]], though the closing of the [[Biblical canon|Christian Bible canon]] in the meantime somewhat changed the method of attack for these writers.
-Of more importance than these matters is the light which the book sheds on the strength of  Christianity about the year 180. He saw the Christianity of his life time to be simply a number of warring sects (mostly Gnostic), and so seeing only a mark of weakness.
-Most suggestive, however, is his closing appeal to the Christians: "Come", he says, "don't hold aloof from the common regime. Take your place by the emperor's side. Don't claim for yourselves another empire, or any special position. It is an overture for peace. If all were to follow your example and abstain from politics, the affairs of the world would fall into the hands of wild and lawless barbarians" (viii.68).
-Conceding that Christians are not without success in business (''infructuosi in negotiis''), he wants them to be good citizens, to retain their own belief but conform to the state religion. It is an earnest and striking appeal on behalf of the Empire, and shows the terms offered to the Christian sects, as well as the importance of the various sects at the time. Numerically, Christians formed perhaps a tenth of the population, i.e. in Alexandria there would be 50,000-60,000. It is unlikely their influence was greater than what the physical evidence reveals throughout AD 100-400.<ref>[[Ramsay MacMullen]], ''Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400'', (Yale: University Press, 1989)</ref>
 == References ==