What did no-christians say about the birth and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in Ancient History? Studies based on Celsus’ The true word (Third Century)

Abstract

Investigations into ancient Christianity, despite enjoying a wide diversification of theoretical-methodological contributions and interpretative strands since the 19th century, have been largely focused on the constitution and consolidation of Christian faith formulas in dialogue with the surrounding culture in Ancient history. Much has been discussed about the symbolic components that came to constitute Christian religious experiences and the gradual adhesion of the Roman elites to the Christian movement. Contrary to this historiography, we seek to understand, from the position of the Neoplatonic philosopher Celsus, the impact that Christian narratives produced on literate non-Christian social groups. In other words, we are concerned with the reception of Christian discourses by non-Christian readers, such as Celsus. Our study, in this sense, is centered on the work of the Christian Origen of Alexandria, Contra Celsum (248/9), thanks to which we have access to Celsus’ anti-Christian arguments. Thus, we inquire into the possible intentions and objectives of Celsus in questioning the Christian discourses about the divine birth and resurrection of Jesus.