“Both Sun and Night Are Servants for Mortals”? Providence in Celsus’ True Account

The notion of “providence” (πρόνοια) plays a crucial role in the second-century Celsus’ True Account and consequently in Origen’s Against Celsus, written in the following century as a response and our sole source for Celsus’ writings. This chapter is structured in four sections. Section one offers an examination of providence in the True Account according to Origen’s Against Celsus; this section deals with Origen accusing Celsus of Epicureanism and with the issues on omnipotence and anthropocentrism that his understanding of providence implies. Section two focuses on the Platonic influence on Celsus’ ideas on providence, whereas section three examines some authors of the second century CE who wrote on providence and share a similar view on it, in order to place Celsus’ thought in its historical settings. In the final section I will characterise Celsus’ thought on providence as occupying a “middle ground” between Epicureanism and Stoicism.