It evinces the truth of what Chrysostom, two centuries
afterwards, observed, that "the Gospels, when written, were not hidden
in a corner or buried in obscurity, but they were made known to all the
world, before enemies as well as others, even as they are now." (In
Matt. Hom. I. 7.)
1. Celsus, or the Jew whom he personates, uses these words:--"I could
say many things concerning the affairs of Jesus, and those, too,
different from those written by the disciples of Jesus; but I purposely
omit them." (Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Test. vol. ii. p. 274.) Upon
this passage it has been rightly observed, that it is not easy to
believe, that if Celsus could have contradicted the disciples upon good
evidence in any material point, he would have omitted to do so, and that
the assertion is, what Origen calls it, a mere oratorical flourish.
It is sufficient, however, to prove that, in the time of Celsus, there
were books well known, and allowed to be written by the disciples of
Jesus, which books contained a history of him. By the term disciples,
Celsus does not mean the followers of Jesus in general; for them he
calls Christians, or believers, or the like; but those who had been
taught by Jesus himself, i.
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