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| Chapter XVIII
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Chapter
XVIII.
But Celsus, lingering over matters which he does
not understand, leads us to be guilty of tautology, as we do not wish
even in appearance to leave any one of his objections unexamined.
He proceeds, accordingly, as follows: “God either really
changes himself, as these assert, into a mortal body, and the
impossibility of that has been already declared; or else he does
not undergo a change, but only causes the beholders to imagine
so, and thus deceives them, and is guilty of falsehood. Now
deceit and falsehood are nothing but evils, and would only be employed
as a medicine, either in the case of sick and lunatic friends, with a
view to their cure, or in that of enemies when one is taking measures
to escape danger. But no sick man or lunatic is a friend of God,
nor does God fear any one to such a degree as to shun danger by leading
him into error.” Now the answer to these statements might
have respect partly to the nature of the Divine Word, who is God, and
partly to the soul of Jesus. As respects the nature of the Word,
in the same way as the quality of the food changes in the nurse into
milk with reference to the nature of the child, or is arranged by the
physician with a view to the good of his health in the case of a sick
man or (is specially) prepared for a stronger man, because he possesses
greater vigour, so does God appropriately change, in the case of each
individual, the power of the Word to which belongs the natural property
of nourishing the human soul. And to one is given, as the
Scripture terms it, “the sincere milk of the word;” and to
another, who is weaker, as it were, “herbs;” and to another
who is full-grown, “strong meat.” And the Word does
not, I imagine, prove false to His own nature, in contributing
nourishment to each one, according as he is capable of receiving
Him.3752
| 3752 [Such are the
accommodations reflected upon by Gieseler. See Book III.
cap. lxxix., supra.] | Nor does He mislead or prove
false. But if one were to take the change as referring to the
soul of Jesus after it had entered the body, we would inquire in what
sense the term “change” is used. For if it be meant
to apply to its essence, such a supposition is inadmissible, not only
in relation to the soul of Jesus, but also to the rational soul of any
other being. And if it be alleged that it suffers anything from
the body when united with it, or from the place to which it has come,
then what inconvenience3753
can happen to the
Word who, in great benevolence, brought down a Saviour to the human
race?—seeing none of those who formerly professed to effect a
cure could accomplish so much as that soul showed it could do,
by what it performed, even by voluntarily descending to the level of
human destinies for the benefit of our race. And the Divine Word,
well knowing this, speaks to that effect in many passages of Scripture,
although it is sufficient at present to quote one testimony of Paul to
the following effect: “Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and
took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which
is above every name.”3754
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