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| Chapter XLIX
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Chapter
XLIX.
Jesus, accordingly, in turning away the minds of
His disciples, not merely from giving heed to sorcerers in general, and
those who profess in any other manner to work miracles—for His
disciples did not need to be so warned—but from such as gave
themselves out as the Christ of God, and who tried by certain
apparent3320
miracles to gain
over to them the disciples of Jesus, said in a certain passage:
“Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I
have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret
chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the
east, and shineth even to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son
of man be.”3321
And in
another passage: “Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in Thy name, and by Thy name have
cast out demons, and done many wonderful works? And then will I
say unto them, Depart from Me, because ye are workers of
iniquity.”3322
But Celsus,
wishing to assimilate the miracles of Jesus to the works of human
sorcery, says in express terms as follows: “O light and
truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves
have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing
miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and he
calls him who makes use of such devices, one Satan. So that Jesus
himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine,
but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of
truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but
convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable
inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the
other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to
be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their
witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that
these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of
certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men.” Observe,
now, whether Celsus is not clearly convicted of slandering the Gospel
by such statements, since what Jesus says regarding those who are to
work signs and wonders is different from what this Jew of Celsus
alleges it to be. For if Jesus had simply told His disciples to
be on their guard against those who professed to work miracles, without
declaring what they would give themselves out to be, then perhaps there
would have been some ground for his suspicion. But since those
against whom Jesus would have us to be on our guard give themselves out
as the Christ—which is not a claim put forth by
sorcerers—and since He says that even some who lead wicked lives
will perform miracles in the name of Jesus, and expel demons out of
men, sorcery in the case of these individuals, or any suspicion of
such, is rather, if we may so speak, altogether banished, and the
divinity of Christ established, as well as the divine mission3323
of His disciples; seeing that it is possible
that one who makes use of His name, and who is wrought upon by some
power, in some way unknown, to make the pretence that he is the Christ,
should seem to perform miracles like those of Jesus, while others
through His name should do works resembling those of His genuine
disciples.
Paul, moreover, in the second Epistle to the
Thessalonians, shows in what manner there will one day be revealed “the man of
sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the
temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”3324
And again he says to the
Thessalonians: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken
out of the way: and then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord will consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of His coming: even him, whose cunning is after
the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish.”3325
And in
assigning the reason why the man of sin is permitted to continue in
existence, he says: “Because they received not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.”3326
Let any one
now say whether any of the statements in the Gospel, or in the writings
of the apostle, could give occasion for the suspicion that there is
therein contained any prediction of sorcery. Any one, moreover,
who likes may find the prophecy in Daniel respecting
antichrist.3327
But Celsus
falsities the words of Jesus, since He did not say that others would
come working similar miracles to Himself, but who are wicked men and
sorcerers, although Celsus asserts that He uttered such words.
For as the power of the Egyptian magicians was not similar to the
divinely-bestowed grace of Moses, but the issue clearly proved that the
acts of the former were the effect of magic, while those of Moses were
wrought by divine power; so the proceedings of the antichrists, and of
those who feign that they can work miracles as being the disciples of
Christ, are said to be lying signs and wonders, prevailing with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness among them that perish; whereas the
works of Christ and His disciples had for their fruit, not deceit, but
the salvation of human souls. And who would rationally maintain
that an improved moral life, which daily lessened the number of a
man’s offences, could proceed from a system of
deceit?E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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