Origen
does not say 'Celsus _has promised_,' but 'Celsus _promises_ ([Greek:
epangellomenon])--_i.e._, in the treatise before him, Origen's knowledge
was plainly derived from the book itself. And, again, he does not say
'If he _has not fulfilled_ his promise to write,' but 'If he _did not
write_ as he undertook to do' ([Greek: _egrapsen huposchomenos_]);
nor 'If he _has commenced and finished_,' but 'If he _commenced and
finished_' ([Greek:_arxamenos sunetelese_]). Thus Origen's language
itself here points to a past epoch, and is in strict accordance with
the earlier passages in his work." [10:2] These remarks, and the
triumphant exclamation of Dr. Lightfoot at the close that here
"an elaborate argument is wrecked on this rock of grammar," convey
a totally wrong impression of the case.
The argument regarding this passage in Origen occurs in a controversy
between Tischendorf and Volkmar, the particulars of which I report;
[10:3] and to avoid anticipation of the point, I promise to give the
passage in its place, which I subsequently do. All the complimentary
observations which Dr. Lightfoot makes upon the translation actually
fall upon the head of his brother apologist, Tischendorf, whose
rendering, as he so much insists upon it, I merely reproduce. The
manner in which Tischendorf attacks Volkmar in connection with this
passage forcibly reminds me of the amenities addressed to myself
by Dr.
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