"The Sources of Celsus's Criticism..."
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:57 am
A recent book,
The sources of Celsus's criticism of Jesus: Theological developments in the second century AD,
Tijsseling, Egge, author
Leuven ; Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2022.
argues that "...the Jew [as represented by Celsus] is the writer of the first edition of _Toledot Yeshu_...." (p. 249, conclusion section).
That isn't proven. That Celsus was a Platonist rather than an Epicurean is persuasive.
Tijsseling proposes that Celsus used a lost text critical of Christianity, perhaps from Alexandria, more likely than that Celsus personally knew the Jewish person he represented. Maybe Celsus used a text.
The book's Bibliography lacks some relevant items (as a reviewer noted), including my
"Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity," Ch. 30 in The Archaeology of Difference: Gender, Ethnicity, Class and the "Other" in Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Eric M. Meyers (AASOR 60/61, 2007)
in which I argue that Celsus, himself, was not from Alexandria, as some propose, but from Pergamum, Asia Minor.
https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/Celsu ... rgamum.pdf
That claim, if valid, by itself, would not settle the question of the origin of the text used by Celsus--if, in fact, he used such a text, given that a person in Pergamum could read a text produced in Alexandria.
But Origen, formerly of Alexandria, was no longer there when his patron--then in Asia Minor--got him to respond to Celsus.
The well-read Origen had evidently not encountered writings of Celsus nor the putative Jewish text before, which may weaken the claim of a link with Alexandria. And Celsus was bothered by Christian spread where he lived, so his location is relevant.
The sources of Celsus's criticism of Jesus: Theological developments in the second century AD,
Tijsseling, Egge, author
Leuven ; Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2022.
argues that "...the Jew [as represented by Celsus] is the writer of the first edition of _Toledot Yeshu_...." (p. 249, conclusion section).
That isn't proven. That Celsus was a Platonist rather than an Epicurean is persuasive.
Tijsseling proposes that Celsus used a lost text critical of Christianity, perhaps from Alexandria, more likely than that Celsus personally knew the Jewish person he represented. Maybe Celsus used a text.
The book's Bibliography lacks some relevant items (as a reviewer noted), including my
"Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity," Ch. 30 in The Archaeology of Difference: Gender, Ethnicity, Class and the "Other" in Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Eric M. Meyers (AASOR 60/61, 2007)
in which I argue that Celsus, himself, was not from Alexandria, as some propose, but from Pergamum, Asia Minor.
https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/Celsu ... rgamum.pdf
That claim, if valid, by itself, would not settle the question of the origin of the text used by Celsus--if, in fact, he used such a text, given that a person in Pergamum could read a text produced in Alexandria.
But Origen, formerly of Alexandria, was no longer there when his patron--then in Asia Minor--got him to respond to Celsus.
The well-read Origen had evidently not encountered writings of Celsus nor the putative Jewish text before, which may weaken the claim of a link with Alexandria. And Celsus was bothered by Christian spread where he lived, so his location is relevant.