Celsus

The Fragments of Celsus

The famous polemic of Celsus, the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher and staunch opponent of the early Christians, survives exclusively in quotations found in Origen's 'Contra Celsum'. This brilliant, classic translation of the earliest surviving substantial criticism of Christianity is being published separately for the first time. This translation of Celsus' fragments, from the Latin of Origen, remains the best available in English. Only the most minor modifications to the text have been made for this edition, mainly substituting for archaic English words. The translation originally appeared in John Patrick's 'The Apology of Origen in Reply to Celsus: A Chapter in the History of Apologetics'.