Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book I/Chapter XXXIX

Chapter XXXIX.

I do not think it necessary to grapple with an argument advanced not in a serious but in a scoffing spirit, such as the following:&#160; &#8220;If the mother of Jesus was beautiful, then the god whose nature is not to love a corruptible body, had intercourse with her because she was beautiful;&#8221; or, &#8220;It was improbable that the god would entertain a passion for her, because she was neither rich nor of royal rank, seeing no one, even of her neighbours, knew her.&#8221;&#160; And it is in the same scoffing spirit that he adds:&#160; &#8220;When hated by her husband, and turned out of doors, she was not saved by divine power, nor was her story believed.&#160; Such things,&#8221; he says, &#8220;have no connection with the kingdom of heaven.&#8221;&#160; In what respect does such language differ from that of those who pour abuse on others on the public streets, and whose words are unworthy of any serious attention?