Christianity from the Roman-Greek perspective: Celsus

From the outset, Christianity faced various oppositions. Initially, the Jews, and later, in subsequent centuries, the Romans saw it as a threat to their own entirety. For this reason, from the second century AD until Christianity became the state religion, the Romans were constantly engaged in persecuting and tormenting Christians. However, opposition to this new religion was not limited to torture; some ancient writers also criticized and rejected the doctrines of Christianity through their writings. Particularly in the second century AD, there was a confrontation—and in very rare cases, interaction—between the culture of Hellenism and Christianity. Celsus was one of the intellectuals who wrote a work entitled The True Discourse, in which he refuted and rejected the main doctrines of Christianity, ultimately concluding that Christians are irrational and ignorant people. In this paper, we will attempt to show his perspective on Christianity in that century by examining the Greek version of Celsus' work and other Greek texts. Furthermore, an analysis of Celsus' treatise provides valuable insights into the behaviors and beliefs of Christians during that era. For example, by studying his work, it can be concluded that in the second century AD the doctrine of the Trinity had not yet become a common belief among Christians, because Celsus does not mention this important theological topic much. Furthermore, his criticisms of Christianity clearly show that in that century, the personality, missions, and behavior of Jesus Christ among his followers were so mixed with mythical ideas that it was not easy to distinguish the historical Jesus from the mythical Jesus. For this reason, one of the important concerns of Christian theologians in this period was to defend the dimension of the humanity of Jesus.