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Origen Bilingual Anthology : YOU WILL FIND A DIVINE PERCEPTION

from Origen's Against Celsus, * Book 1, ch. 48. Translated by W. H. Cairns, Greek Fonts ||| Origen Home Page


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But he who examines such matters more profoundly will say, that there being, as the Scripture calls it, a kind of general divine perception which the blessed man alone knows how to discover, according to the saying of Solomon, "Thou shall find the knowledge of God; " and as there are various forms of this perceptive power, such as a faculty of vision which can naturally see things that are better than bodies, among which are ranked the cherubim and seraphim; and a faculty of hearing which can perceive voices which have not their being in the air; and a sense of taste which can make use of living bread that has come down from heaven, and that giveth life unto the world; and so also a sense of smelling, which scents such things as leads Paul to say that he is a sweet savour of Christ unto God; (cf. 2 Cor. 2.15) and a sense of touch, by which John says that he "handled with his hands of the Word of life; " (cf. 1 John 1.1) - the blessed prophets having discovered this divine perception, and seeing and hearing in this divine manner, and tasting likewise, and smelling, so to speak, with no sensible organs of perception, and laying hold on the Logos by faith, so that a healing effluence from it comes upon them, saw in this manner what they record as having seen, and heard what they say they heard, and were affected in a similar manner to what they describe when eating the roll of a book that was given them. Ὁ δὲ βαθύτερον τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐξετάζων ἐρεῖ ὅτι οὔσης͵ ὡς ἡ γραφὴ ὠνόμασε͵ θείας τινὸς γενικῆς αἰσθήσεως͵ ἣν μόνος ὁ μακάριος εὑρίσκει ἤδη κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον καὶ παρὰ τῷ Σολομῶντι· Ὅτι αἴσθησιν θείαν εὑρήσεις͵ καὶ ὄντων εἰδῶν ταύτης τῆς αἰσθήσεως͵ ὁράσεως πεφυκυίας βλέπειν τὰ κρείττονα σωμάτων πράγματα͵ ἐν οἷς δηλοῦται τὰ χερουβὶμ ἢ τὰ σεραφίμ͵ καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀντιλαμβανομένης φωνῶν οὐχὶ ἐν ἀέρι τὴν οὐσίαν ἐχουσῶν͵ καὶ γεύσεως χρωμένης ἄρτῳ ζῶντι καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβεβηκότι καὶ ζωὴν διδόντι τῷ κόσμῳ͵ οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὀσφρήσεως ὀσφραινομένης τοιῶνδε͵ καθὸ Χριστοῦ εὐωδία λέγει εἶναι τῷ θεῷ Παῦλος͵ καὶ ἁφῆς͵ καθ΄ ἣν Ἰωάννης φησὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐψηλαφηκέναι περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς· οἱ μακάριοι προφῆται τὴν θείαν αἴσθησιν εὑρόντες καὶ βλέποντες θείως καὶ ἀκούοντες θείως καὶ γευόμενοι ὁμοίως καὶ ὀσφραινόμενοι͵ ἵν΄ οὕτως ὀνομάσω͵ αἰσθήσει οὐκ αἰσθητῇ καὶ ἁπτόμενοι τοῦ λόγου μετὰ πίστεως͵ ὥστ΄ ἀπορροὴν αὐτοῦ ἥκειν εἰς αὐτοὺς θεραπεύσουσαν αὐτούς͵ οὕτως ἑώρων ἃ ἀναγράφουσιν ἑωρακέναι καὶ ἤκουον ἃ λέγουσιν ἀκηκοέναι καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια ἔπασχον͵ ὡς ἀνέγραφον͵ ἐσθίοντες κεφαλίδα διδομένην αὐτοῖς βιβλίου.
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