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| Chapter XLVII
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Chapter
XLVII.
Celsus next, for form’s sake,3907
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.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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