He was not the Messiah because he was betrayed by his own followers. He could not save himself from death and did not arise from the dead. If he had, he would have displayed himself to the judges rather than to a half-demented female acolyte. Returning to his own pagan, philosophical voice, Celsus argues that Christianity is itself is contrary to reason. This can be seen by Christians’ use of terrifying images of punishments in the future to intimidate people into conversion. Celsus particularly objects to the attraction of Christianity to self-professed sinners, and its claim that it can
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