Introduction James Carleton Paget and Simon Gathercole; 1. Of scholarship, piety, and community: origen's purpose(s) in contra celsum Lewis Ayres; Apologetic and internal Christian argument in the contra celsum: a reponse Rowan Williams; 2. Annotations on the literary structure of celsus' al¿th¿s logos with special reference to the second speech of the Jew Johannes Arnold; The problem of the structure of celsus' alethes logos: a response Simon Gathercole; 3. Celsus as platonist philosopher David Sedley; 4. Celsus' theology: Ineffable logos and impersonal providence George Boys-Stones; 5. Origen's celsus and imperial religiosity Teresa Morgan; Celsus on texts and practices of ritual power: a response Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe; 6. Celsus, or Philosophy and the second sophistic Gretchen Reydam-Schils; Shaping the religious debate from within second sophistic culture: a response Simon Goldhill; 7. Homer in origen, against celsus Richard Hunter; Homer in the polemics between celsus and origen: a response George van Kooten; 8. The gospel according to celsus: Celsus' representation of Christianity Loveday Alexander; Celsus on Christianity ¿ a detractor with a constructive agenda: a response Josef Lössl; 9. The reception of the alethes logos Sébastien Morlet; Literary influence and polemical tradition: a response William Horbury; 10. Celsus' Judaism Philip Alexander; Celsus' Jew as celsus' Christian construct? A response Martin Goodman; 11. The multiple personalities of celsus' Jew Judith Lieu; The distinctiveness of Celsus' Jew: a response James Carleton Paget; 12. Afterword Mark Edwards.

This book provides a multi-dimensional account of the ancient Greek philosopher, Celsus.