Origen Against Celsus and His Letters

At this time, as was natural, the faith was multiplying and our message was spoken boldly before everyone. Origen, they say, was over sixty years old, and since by now he had gained the greatest skill from his long preparation, he allowed his public discussions to be taken down by shorthand writers, something he had never permitted before. [a] At this time also he wrote the eight books in answer to the work against us by Celsus the Epicurean, entitled The True Word, and the twenty-five volumes on the Gospel according to Matthew, and those on the twelve prophets, of which we have found only twenty-five. [b]

A letter of his to the emperor Philip himself is also in circulation, and another to his wife Severa, with various others to various people. As many of these as we have been able to collect, preserved here and there by various people, we have arranged in volumes of their own, so that they would no longer be scattered. They number more than a hundred. [d] He also wrote to Fabian, bishop of Rome, and to a great many other leaders of churches about his orthodoxy. You have the proofs of these too in the sixth book of the defense of the man that we have written. [e]