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Research atlas for early Christianity. Claims are tagged attested, traditional, or disputed. Copyrighted full texts, including CCEL editions, are not included.

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Contra Celsum

Also known as Against Celsus

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  • published. 248high · Wikidata P577

Origen's reply (c. 248) to Celsus' True Word, preserving much of the earliest major pagan critique of Christianity.

Wikipedia extract

Against Celsus, preserved entirely in Greek, is a major apologetics work by the Church Father Origen of Alexandria, written in around 248 AD, countering the writings of Celsus, a pagan philosopher and controversialist who had written a scathing attack on Christianity in his treatise The True Word. Among a variety of other charges, Celsus had denounced many Christian doctrines as irrational and criticized Christians themselves as uneducated, deluded, unpatriotic, close-minded towards reason, and too accepting of sinners. He had accused Jesus of performing his miracles using black magic rather than actual divine powers and of plagiarizing his teachings from Plato. Celsus had warned that Christianity itself was drawing people away from traditional religion and claimed that its growth would lead to a collapse of traditional, conservative values.

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  • Against Celsus · New Advent FathersPublic-domain translation; site edition copyright Kevin Knight. Link, do not mirror.
  • Origen · Early Christian Writings (Peter Kirby)Hub site; each linked translation keeps its own rights. Link only.

Sources

  • Contra Celsum · Wikipedia contributorsAccessed 2026-11-12 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wikidata Q917141 · Wikidata contributorsAccessed 2026-11-12 · CC0 1.0
  • Against Celsus · OrigenAccessed 2026-11-12 · Public-domain translation; site edition copyright Kevin Knight. Link, do not mirror.
  • Origen · Early Christian Writings (Peter Kirby)Accessed 2026-11-12 · Hub site; each linked translation keeps its own rights. Link only.

Authority files

apologists · pagan-response · 3rd-century

Contra Celsum · DeChurched Atlas