Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book III/Chapter XXX

by Origen

Chapter XXX.

For the Church^[1] of God, e.g., which is at Athens, is a meek and stable body, as being one which desires to please God, who is over all things; whereas the assembly^[2] of the Athenians is given to sedition, and is not at all to be compared to the Church of God in that city.  And you may say the same thing of the Church of God at Corinth, and of the assembly of the Corinthian people; and also of the Church of God at Alexandria, and of the assembly of the people of Alexandria.  And if he who hears this be a candid man, and one who investigates things with a desire to ascertain the truth, he will be filled with admiration of Him who not only conceived the design, but also was able to secure in all places the establishment of Churches of God alongside^[3] of the assemblies of the people in each city.  In like manner, also, in comparing the council^[4] of the Church of God with the council in any city, you would find that certain councillors^[5] of the Church are worthy to rule in the city of God, if there be any such city in the whole world;^[6] whereas the councillors in all other places exhibit in their characters no quality worthy of the conventional^[7] superiority which they appear to enjoy over their fellow-citizens.  And so, too, you must compare the ruler of the Church in each city with the ruler of the people of the city, in order to observe that even amongst those councillors and rulers of the Church of God who come very far short of their duty, and who lead more indolent lives than others who are more energetic, it is nevertheless possible to discover a general superiority in what relates to the progress of virtue over the characters of the councillors and rulers in the various cities.^[8]

1. ἐκκλησία.
2. ἐκκλησία.
3. παροικούσας.
4. βουλήν.
5. βουλευταί.
6. εὕροις ἂν τίνες μὲν τῆς ἐκκλησίας βουλευταὶ ἄξιοί εἰσιν, εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ πάντι πόγις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν ἐκεινῇ πολιτεύεσθαι.  Boherellus conjectures εὕροις ἂν ὅτι τινὲς μὲν, κ.τ.λ.
7. τῆς ἐκ κατατάξεως ὑπεροχῆς.
8. ὅτι και ἐπὶ τῶν σφόδρα ἀποτυγχανομένων βουλευτῶν καὶ ἀρχόντων ἐκκλησίας Θεοῦ, καὶ ῥαθυμότερον παρὰ τοὺς εὐτονωτέρως βιοῦντας, οὐδὲν ἧττόν ἐστιν εὑρεῖν ὡς ἐπίπαν ὑπεροχὴν, τὴν ἐν τῇ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς προκοπῆ, παρὰ τὰ ἔθη τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι βουλευτῶν καὶ ἀρχόντων.  Boherellus conjectures ῥαθυμοτερων.