Apologetics -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600; Celsus (Platonic philosopher), active 180; Theology -- History -- Early Church, ca. 30-600
Celsus next, for form’s sake,[687] and with great want of precision,
speaks of “the dreams of the chief butler and chief baker, and of
Pharaoh, and of the explanation of them, in consequence of which Joseph
was taken out of prison in order to be entrusted by Pharaoh with the
second place in Egypt.” What absurdity, then, did the history contain,
looked at even in itself, that it should be adduced as matter of
accusation by this Celsus, who gave the title of _True Discourse_ to a
treatise not containing doctrines, but full of charges against Jews and
Christians? He adds: “He who had been sold behaved kindly to his
brethren (who had sold him), when they were suffering from hunger, and
had been sent with their asses to purchase [provisions];” although he
has not related these occurrences [in his treatise]. But he _does_
mention the circumstance of Joseph making himself known to his brethren,
although I know not with what view, or what absurdity he can point out
in such an occurrence; since it is impossible for Momus himself, we
might say, to find any reasonable fault with events which, apart from
their figurative meaning, present so much that is attractive. He
relates, further, that “Joseph, who had been sold as a slave, was
restored to liberty, and went up with a solemn procession to his
father’s funeral,” and thinks that the narrative furnishes matter of
accusation against us, as he makes the following remark: “By whom
(Joseph, namely) the illustrious and divine nation of the Jews, after
growing up in Egypt to be a multitude of people, was commanded to
sojourn somewhere beyond the limits of the kingdom, and to pasture their
flocks in districts of no repute.” Now the words, “that they were
commanded to pasture their flocks in districts of no repute,” are an
addition, proceeding from his own feelings of hatred; for he has not
shown that Goshen, the district of Egypt, is a place of no repute. The
exodus of the people from Egypt he calls a flight, not at all
remembering what is written in the book of Exodus regarding the
departure of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt. We have enumerated
these instances to show that what, literally considered, might appear to
furnish ground of accusation, Celsus has not succeeded in proving to be
either objectionable or foolish, having utterly failed to establish the
evil character, as he regards it, of our Scriptures.
Footnote 687:
ὁσίας ἕνεκεν.
Chapter XLVIII.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account