Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book III/Chapter XIII

Chapter XIII.

Now, if these arguments hold good, why should we not defend, in the same way, the existence of heresies in Christianity?&#160; And respecting these, Paul appears to me to speak in a very striking manner when he says, &#8220;For there must be heresies among you, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you.&#8221; &#160; For as that man is &#8220;approved&#8221; in medicine who, on account of his experience in various (medical) heresies, and his honest examination of the majority of them, has selected the preferable system,&#8212;and as the great proficient in philosophy is he who, after acquainting himself experimentally with the various views, has given in his adhesion to the best,&#8212;so I would say that the wisest Christian was he who had carefully studied the heresies both of Judaism and Christianity.&#160; Whereas he who finds fault with Christianity because of its heresies would find fault also with the teaching of Socrates, from whose school have issued many others of discordant views.&#160; Nay, the opinions of Plato might be chargeable with error, on account of Aristotle&#8217;s having separated from his school, and founded a new one,&#8212;on which subject we have remarked in the preceding book.&#160; But it appears to me that Celsus has become acquainted with certain heresies which do not possess even the name of Jesus in common with us.&#160; Perhaps he had heard of the sects called Ophites and Cainites, or some others of a similar nature, which had departed in all points from the teaching of Jesus.&#160; And yet surely this furnishes no ground for a charge against the Christian doctrine.