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| Chapter XVIII
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Chapter
XVIII.
Celsus adds: “Will they not besides make
this reflection? If the prophets of the God of the Jews foretold
that he who should come into the world would be the Son of this same
God, how could he command them through Moses to gather wealth, to
extend their dominion, to fill the earth, to put their enemies of every
age to the sword, and to destroy them utterly, which indeed he himself
did—as Moses says—threatening them, moreover, that if they
did not obey his commands, he would treat them as his avowed enemies;
whilst, on the other hand, his Son, the man of Nazareth, promulgated
laws quite opposed to these,
declaring that no one can come to the Father who loves power, or
riches, or glory; that men ought not to be more careful in providing
food than the ravens; that they were to be less concerned about their
raiment than the lilies; that to him who has given them one blow, they
should offer to receive another? Whether is it Moses or Jesus who
teaches falsely? Did the Father, when he sent Jesus, forget the
commands which he had given to Moses? Or did he change his mind,
condemn his own laws, and send forth a messenger with counter
instructions?” Celsus, with all his boasts of universal
knowledge, has here fallen into the most vulgar of errors, in supposing
that in the law and the prophets there is not a meaning deeper than
that afforded by a literal rendering of the words. He does not
see how manifestly incredible it is that worldly riches should be
promised to those who lead upright lives, when it is a matter of common
observation that the best of men have lived in extreme poverty.
Indeed, the prophets themselves, who for the purity of their lives
received the Divine Spirit, “wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: they wandered
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the
earth.”4705
For, as the
Psalmist, says, “many are the afflictions of the
righteous.”4706
If Celsus had
read the writings of Moses, he would, I daresay, have supposed that
when it is said to him who kept the law, “Thou shalt lend unto
many nations, and thou thyself shalt not borrow,”4707
the promise is made to the just man, that
his temporal riches should be so abundant, that he would be able to
lend not only to the Jews, not only to two or three nations, but
“to many nations.” What, then, must have been the
wealth which the just man received according to the law for his
righteousness, if he could lend to many nations? And must we not
suppose also, in accordance with this interpretation, that the just man
would never borrow anything? For it is written, “and thou
shalt thyself borrow nothing.” Did then that nation remain
for so long a period attached to the religion which was taught by
Moses, whilst, according to the supposition of Celsus, they saw
themselves so grievously deceived by that lawgiver? For nowhere
is it said of any one that he was so rich as to lend to many
nations. It is not to be believed that they would have fought so
zealously in defence of a law whose promises had proved glaringly
false, if they understood them in the sense which Celsus gives to
them. And if any one should say that the sins which are recorded
to have been committed by the people are a proof that they despised the
law, doubtless from the feeling that they had been deceived by it, we
may reply that we have only to read the history of the times in order
to find it shown that the whole people, after having done that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord, returned afterwards to their duty,
and to the religion prescribed by the law.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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