The True Word

The True Word (or Discourse, Account, or Doctrine; Greek: Λόγος Ἀληθής, Logos Alēthēs) is a lost treatise in which the ancient Greek philosopher Celsus addressed many principal points of early Christianity and refuted or argued against their validity. In The True Word, Celsus attacked Christianity in three ways: by refuting its philosophical claims, by marking it as a phenomenon associated with the uneducated and lower class, and by cautioning his audience that it was a danger to the Roman Empire. Information concerning the work exists only in the extensive quotations from it in the Contra Celsum ("Against Celsus"), written some seventy years later by the Christian Origen. These are believed to be accurate as far as they go, but may not give a fully comprehensive picture of the original work.