Editing Celsus (section)

== Philosophy ==
All that is known about Celsus himself comes from the surviving text of his book and from what Origen says about him.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=94}} Although Origen initially refers to Celsus as an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]],{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|pages=94–95}} his arguments reflect ideas of the [[Platonism|Platonic]] tradition, rather than Epicureanism.{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|pages=94–95}} Origen attributes this to Celsus's inconsistency,{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} but modern historians see it instead as evidence that Celsus was not an Epicurean at all.{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Joseph Wilson Trigg states that Origen probably confused Celsus, the author of ''The True Word'', with a different Celsus, who was an Epicurean philosopher and a friend of the Syrian satirist [[Lucian]].{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Celsus the Epicurean must have lived around the same time as the author of ''The True Word'' and he is mentioned by Lucian in his treatise ''On Magic''.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Both Celsus the friend of Lucian and Celsus the author of ''The True Word'' evidently shared a passionate zeal against ''[[superstitio]]'', making it easy to see how Origen could have concluded that they were the same person.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}}

Stephen Thomas states that Celsus may not have been a Platonist ''per se'',{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} but that he was clearly familiar with [[Plato]].{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Celsus's actual philosophy appears to be a blend of elements derived from Platonism, [[Aristotelianism]], [[Pythagoreanism]], and [[Stoicism]].{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Wilken likewise concludes that Celsus was a philosophical eclectic, whose views reflect a variety of ideas popular to a number of different schools.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=95}} Wilken classifies Celsus as "a conservative intellectual", noting that "he supports traditional values and defends accepted beliefs".{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=95}} Theologian [[Robert M. Grant (theologian)|Robert M. Grant]] notes that Origen and Celsus actually agree on many points:{{sfn|Grant|1967|page=552}} "Both are opposed to [[Anthropotheism|anthropomorphism]], to [[idolatry]], and to any crudely literal theology."{{sfn|Grant|1967|page=552}} Celsus also writes as a loyal citizen of the [[Roman Empire]] and a devoted believer in the [[ancient Greek religion]] and the [[religion in ancient Rome]], distrustful of Christianity as new and foreign.{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}}

Thomas remarks that Celsus "is no genius as a philosopher".{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Nonetheless, most scholars, including Thomas, agree that Origen's quotations from ''The True Word'' reveal that the work was well-researched.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|page=33}}{{sfn|Thomas|2004|pages=72–73}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus demonstrates extensive knowledge of both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} and of both Jewish and Christian history.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus was also closely familiar with the literary features of ancient polemics.{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus seems to have read at least one work by one of the second-century Christian apologists, possibly [[Justin Martyr]] or [[Aristides of Athens]].{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=216}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=101}} From this reading, Celsus seems to have known which kinds of arguments Christians would be most vulnerable to.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=101}} He also mentions the [[Ophites]] and [[Simonians]], two Gnostic sects that had almost completely vanished by Origen's time.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=216}} One of Celsus's main sources for Books I–II of ''The True Word'' was an earlier anti-Christian polemic written by an unknown Jewish author,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}}{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} whom Origen refers to as the "Jew of Celsus".{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} This Jewish source also provides well-researched criticism of Christianity{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} and, although Celsus was also hostile to Judaism,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} he occasionally relies on this Jewish author's arguments,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} to demonstrate the inconsistency of the Christian position, and he also uses Christian arguments among others to deconstruct the Jewish religion.