and abused, I, Justin, son of Priscus, son of Bacchius 27, one of those from Flavia Neapolis 28 in Syria of Palestine, as one of them, have composed this address and petition.
2. Reason A dictates that those who are truly pious and lovers of wisdom should alone honor and cherish the truth, refusing to follow the opinions of the ancients if these be worthless. For sound reason dictates that we should not only not follow those who do wrong or have taught anything wrong, but also that in every way, even if death be threatened, the lover of truth must choose to say and do only what is just. You, indeed, are heard everywhere as being called pious and philosophers, and guardians of justice, and lovers of learning, but whether you are such in reality shall be demonstrated 50. For we have come, not to flatter you through this letter 51, nor to speak for your favor, but to demand that you make judgment according to the exact and searching standard of reason, and not to hold yourselves captured by prejudice, or by the human favor B of those who are held by superstition, or by irrational impulse, or by an old, prevailing evil rumor, to cast a vote against yourselves. For we consider that we can suffer no evil from anyone, unless we be convicted as evildoers, or proven to be wicked; you, however, have the power to kill, but to injure us you cannot.
5. But C that no one may think this a senseless and bold claim, we ask that the charges against these men be examined, and if they be proven to exist, let them be punished 35 as is proper, or rather let them be punished. But if no one has anything to convict us of, sound reason does not demand
that, because of an evil rumor, you should do injury to innocent people, or rather to yourselves, you who choose to conduct affairs not by judgment but by passion. Every reasonable person will declare this to be a noble and only just challenge: that the subjects provide an account of their own life and doctrine that is beyond reproach; and similarly, that those who rule also pass sentence, not by force or tyranny, but by following piety and philosophy. For in this way, both rulers and subjects might enjoy good things. For someone of the ancients said somewhere: «Unless both those who rule and those who are ruled pursue philosophy, it is impossible for cities to be happy.» It is our task, therefore, to provide everyone with an inspection of our life and teachings, so that for the sake of those who are thought to be ignorant of our affairs, we do not pay the penalty for the things they sin regarding, while B they act blindly. And it is your task, as reason chooses, to hear us and be found good judges. For once you have learned the truth, if you do not do what is just, it will be inexcusable before God.
4. The attribution of a name is not judged as good or bad without the actions that fall under the name; for, as far as the name by which we are called is concerned, we are most excellent. But since we do not consider it just, because of the name, if we are convicted of being evil, to ask for release; again, if we are found doing no wrong, neither because of the appellation of the name nor because of our conduct, it is your duty to take pains, lest by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted C you incur the penalty of justice. For neither praise nor punishment can justly come from the name alone, unless one can prove by deeds what is virtuous or base. For whoever are accused before you, they must be punished, as it is fitting, or rather, it is fitting to punish someone; but if no one has anything to convict us of, sound reason does not demand that, because of an evil rumor, you should do injury to innocent people, or rather to yourselves, you who choose to conduct affairs not by judgment but by passion. Every reasonable person will declare this to be a noble and only just challenge: that the subjects provide an account of their own life and doctrine that is beyond reproach; and similarly, that those who rule also pass sentence, not by force or tyranny, but by following piety and philosophy. For in this way, both rulers and subjects might enjoy good things. For someone of the ancients said somewhere: «Unless both those who rule and those who are ruled pursue philosophy, it is impossible for cities to be happy.» It is our task, therefore, to provide everyone with an inspection of our life and teachings, so that for the sake of those who are thought to be ignorant of our affairs, we do not pay the penalty for the things they sin regarding, while they act blindly. And it is your task, as reason chooses, to hear us and be found good judges. For once you have learned the truth, if you do not do what is just, it will be inexcusable before God.
4. The attribution of a name is not judged as good or bad without the actions that fall under the name; for, as far as the name by which we are called D is concerned, we are most excellent. But since we do not consider it just, because of the name, if we are convicted of being evil, to ask for release; again, if we are found doing no wrong, neither because of the appellation of the name nor because of our conduct, it is your duty to take pains, lest by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted, you incur the penalty of justice. For neither praise nor punishment can justly come from the name alone, unless one can prove by deeds what is virtuous or base.
A For we are accused of being Christians, and it is not right that what is good should be hated. Again, if any of those who are accused deny it, claiming by their voice that they are not, you release them, as having nothing to convict them of having done wrong. But if someone confesses B that he is one, you punish him on account of the confession; whereas it is necessary to examine the life of both the one who confesses and the one who denies, so that each may be shown by his actions as to what kind of person he is. For in the same way that certain people, having learned from their teacher Christ not to deny him when they are examined, C are encouraged to do so, in the same way those who live wickedly perhaps provide an opportunity to those who, from other sources, are prepared to attribute impiety and injustice to all Christians. Neither is this done correctly; for indeed, certain people assume the name and the guise of philosophy D who do nothing worthy of such a profession. You know that even those among the ancients who held and taught opposing views are all called by the one name of philosophers.
A And some of them have taught atheism. And the poets who have followed them declare that Zeus, together with his children, was licentious; and those who emulate their teachings are not prohibited by you, but you set up prizes and honors for those who insult them with sweet-sounding voices.
5. What then is this? Since we promise that we will do no evil, nor will we hold these impious opinions, you do not examine the judgments B but, driven by irrational passion and the scourging of wicked demons, you judge without trial, not caring. For the truth shall be told: since in olden times wicked demons, having made appearances, both committed adultery with women and corrupted boys, and showed terrifying sights to men, so that those who did not judge these happenings by reason, but were seized by fear, and—not knowing that they were wicked demons—called them gods and gave each one the name which each of the demons had applied to himself. But when Socrates, by true reason and by examination, attempted to bring these things to light and to lead men away from the demons, the demons themselves, through men who take pleasure in wickedness, brought it about that he was put to death as an atheist and an impious person, saying that he was introducing new demons. And they are working the same thing toward us. For not only have these things been refuted by the Word through Socrates among the Greeks, C but also among the barbarians by the Word Himself, who in His own form became man and was called Jesus Christ. And we, having been persuaded, say that the demons who performed these things are not only not good, but are wicked and unholy demons, who do not have actions similar even to men who desire virtue.
6. Hence we are called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists as concerns the ones who are thought to be such gods, but not as concerns the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, in whom there is no mixture of evil. But we worship Him, and the Son who came from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like Him, as well as the D prophetic Spirit.
A
7. But someone might say: Indeed, some have been apprehended and convicted as evildoers. And in truth, you often, when you examine the life of each of those accused, condemn them, but not because of those who were previously convicted. We confess this generally, that just as among the Greeks, those who taught opinions agreeable to them are all called by the one name of philosophy, although their doctrines are contrary, so too among the barbarians, to those who have existed or have been considered wise, a common name has been imposed. For all are called Christians. We ask, therefore, that the actions of all who are accused before you be judged, so that he who is convicted may be punished as an evildoer, but not as a Christian. But if anyone is found to be unconvicted, he should be released as a Christian who has committed no wrong. For we will not ask you to punish the accusers; they are sufficiently punished by their own indwelling wickedness and ignorance of good things.
8. And consider that we say these things for your sake, B from the fact that it is within our power to deny when questioned. But we do not wish to live by clinging to a lie. For desiring an eternal and pure life, we strive for the residence promised by God, the Father and Creator of all, and we hasten to confess, since we are persuaded and believe, that those who have convinced God by their deeds that they followed Him and longed for the residence with Him, where no wickedness resists, can reach these things. As, therefore, to speak briefly, these are the things that we expect, and which we have learned from Christ and do teach. C Plato, D likewise, said that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the unjust who came to them. We, however, say that the same thing will happen, but by Christ, and with them being in the same bodies together with their souls, and they will be punished with eternal punishment, and not a thousand-year period alone, as he said. If, then, anyone says to us that this is unbelievable or impossible, this error is for another to investigate.
so long as we are not convicted of doing any wrong in action.
9. A But we do not honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers those whom men, having fashioned and placed in temples, have called gods; for we know that these are inanimate and dead, and do not possess the form of God (for we do not think that God has the form which some say is imitated for the sake of honor), but that they possess both the names and the forms of those evil demons who have appeared. For what need is there to tell you, who know it well, how craftsmen treat the material, carving and cutting, casting and striking? And often, from dishonorable vessels, having merely changed their shape by their art and given them a form, they name them gods. B This we consider not only irrational, but also done to the insult of God, who possesses an ineffable glory and form, for His name is imposed upon corruptible things that require care. And that the craftsmen of these things are lewd, and possess every vice—that I may not recount each one—you know accurately; and they corrupt their own maidservants while working with them. O, the stupefaction of the mind! That such things should be attributed to incontinent men, that they are said to fashion and transform gods for worship, and to appoint such men as guardians of the shrines where they are placed! They do not see that it is impious, both in thought and in speech, for men to be guardians of gods.
10. C Nor do we accept that God has need of material gifts from men, since we see that He provides all things. But we have been taught, and are persuaded and believe, that He accepts only those who imitate the good things that are His: temperance, justice, and philanthropy, and all that is proper to God, who is called by no imposed name. And we have been taught that He, being good, created all things in the beginning out of unformed matter for the sake of men; D and if they prove themselves worthy by their works to His counsel, we have received that they shall, in fellowship with Him, be thought worthy of reigning.
having become incorruptible and impassible. For as He created us when we were not, in the beginning, so we believe that in the same manner those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, by reason of this choice, accounted worthy of immortality and intimacy and fellowship with God. For to have come into being in the beginning was not in our own power, but to follow what is pleasing to Him, by choosing through the rational faculties which He has bestowed upon us, this He persuades us of and leads us to faith. And we consider that this applies to all men, since they are not hindered from learning these things, but rather are encouraged by exhortation to them. For that which human laws were unable to effect, the divine Word, being God, would have accomplished, had not the wicked demons, making a companion and helper in every man of the evil and multifaceted desire inherent in nature, scattered abroad many false and impious accusations, of which we are conscious of none. B
11. But you, when you hear that we look for a kingdom, rashly suspect that we speak of a human kingdom, when we speak of that which is with God; as is evident even from the fact that when we are interrogated by you, we confess ourselves to be Christians, although we know that death is the penalty provided for the confessor. For if we were looking for a human kingdom, we would certainly deny it in order not to be put to death, and we would endeavor to escape notice, so that we might obtain what we look for. But since we do not place our hopes on the present, we do not care about being put to death, since death is altogether inevitable. C
12. But we are your helpers and allies toward peace, we who teach these things—that it is impossible for either a wrongdoer, or a covetous man, or a conspirator, or a virtuous man to escape the notice of God, and that each man goes to eternal punishment or salvation according to the merit of his deeds. For if all men knew this, no one would choose vice even for a little while, knowing that he would go to eternal punishment by fire, but would by every means restrain himself and adorn himself with virtue, so that he might obtain the good things from God and be delivered from the punishments. For it is not because of the laws and punishments imposed by you that we endeavor D
to avoid wronging others; for we know that it is possible for you to be deceived by us, as you are but men. If they had learned and were persuaded that it is impossible to escape the notice of God, not only of what is done, but even of what is thought, they would at least, on account of the impending punishments, be orderly in every way, as you yourselves would agree. A But you seem to fear that all men might act righteously, and that you would no longer have any to punish. That would be the task of executioners, not of good rulers. We are persuaded, however, that these things are brought about by the operation of wicked demons, who demand sacrifices and services from those who live according to unreason, just as we have already said; but we do not suppose that you, who desire piety and philosophy, will do anything unreasonable. But if you also, like foolish men, prefer custom to truth, do what you can. B Such power do rulers have who prefer glory to truth as have robbers in the desert. But that you will not perform a successful sacrifice, the Word proves; than whom we know of no ruler more kingly and more just, after the God who begat him. For in the way that all men cast off poverty, or sufferings, or ancestral disrepute, so too the prudent man will not choose whatever the Word dictates ought not to be chosen. All these things our teacher, I say, C foretold would come to pass. D [Athenians, seeing me crowned, you yourselves should sacrifice me; for formerly you did not]
A Hence we are all the more firmly convinced of the truth of all that He has taught us, since we see that everything He foretold before it came to pass is being fulfilled in deed; which is the work of God—to foretell things before they happen, and to show them occurring just as they were foretold. We could have stopped here, judging that what we ask for is just and true. But because we know that it is not easy for a mind B gripped by ignorance to change suddenly, we have determined to add a little more in order to persuade those who love the truth, knowing that it is not impossible for ignorance to be dispelled when the truth is presented.
13. Who, then, of sound mind will not confess that we are not atheists, we who worship the Maker of this whole universe? We have been taught that He has no need of blood, libations, and incense, C but we praise Him to the best of our ability by the word of prayer and thanksgiving for all the things we receive, having learned that this is the only honor worthy of Him: not to consume in fire what He has created for our sustenance, but to offer it to ourselves and to those in need, and as for Him, to show ourselves grateful and to send up to Him through the word—that is, through prayer and hymns D—our processions to honor Him for our birth, for all our health, for the qualities of all things, and for the changes of the seasons, and to offer petitions that we may come to exist again in immortality through the faith which is in Him. Who of sober mind would not agree? And as for Him who became our teacher in these things, and who was born for this purpose—Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate—when we have learned that He is the Son of the true God and hold Him in the second place, and the [Prophetic] Spirit in the third...
we shall demonstrate that we worship Him with reason. A For here they manifest their madness, alleging that we give a second place after the unchangeable and eternal God, the generator of all, to a man who was crucified; they are ignorant of the mystery in this, to which we exhort you to pay attention, when we have explained it. For it occurred in Judæa in the times of Tiberius Cæsar.
14. We warn you that those B demons who have been maligned by us may not deceive you, and turn you away from even approaching and understanding the things that are said (for they struggle to have you as slaves and ministers, and sometimes through the manifestations of dreams, and sometimes again through magical arts, they master all those who do not struggle for their own salvation); just as we, after we were persuaded by the Word, renounced them, and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son—we who formerly delighted in fornications, but now embrace only chastity; and those of us who practiced magical arts, have dedicated ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; and those who valued the seeking of money and possessions more than anything else, now even bring what we have into a common stock, and share with everyone in need; and we who hated one another and killed one another, and because of customs C would not share a common hearth with those who were not of the same tribe, now, after the appearance of Christ, have become companions at the same table, and pray for our enemies, and endeavor to persuade those who hate us unjustly, so that, having lived according to the excellent precepts of Christ, they may have good hope to receive the same things as we do from God, who is the master of all. But so that we may not seem to be playing sophistry upon you, [we have set out] a few of the teachings of Christ Himself.
D They do not think or deem that there is any communion toward Dionysus for Hera: for they are cautious about mixing the sacred rites, and they say that the priestesses at Athens, when they meet one another, greet each other, but not at all to bring ivy into the temple of Hera.
A We have judged it good, before beginning the demonstration, to recall a few of his precepts, and it is for you, as powerful kings, to examine whether we have in truth learned and taught these things. His manner of discourse was brief and concise, for he was not a sophist, but his word was the power of God.
15. Regarding chastity, he declared as much: "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart before God." And: "If your right eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; for it is better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye, rather than be sent with two into eternal fire." And: "Whoever marries a woman divorced from another husband commits adultery." And: "There are some who have been castrated by men; and there are some who were born eunuchs; and there are some who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; but not all can receive this." Just as those B who, according to human law, contract a second marriage are sinners in the sight of our Teacher, so too are those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only is the one who commits adultery in act cast out by him, but also the one who desires to commit adultery, since not only facts, but also thoughts, are manifest to God. And many men and women, sixty and seventy years old, who have been instructed in Christ from childhood, remain incorrupt; and I am proud to be able to show such persons among every race of men. For why should I mention the countless multitude who have turned from lasciviousness and learned these things? For Christ did not call the just and the temperate to repentance, but the impious, the incontinent, and the unjust. For he said thus: "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." For the heavenly Father desires the repentance of the sinner rather than his punishment. And concerning the love of all, he taught this: "If you love those who love you, what new thing do you do? For even the fornicators do this. C But I say to you: Pray for your enemies, and love those who hate you."
And bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And regarding sharing with the needy and doing nothing for the sake of glory, he spoke thus: "Give to every one that asks, and those who desire to borrow, do not turn away. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what new thing do you do? Even the tax collectors do this. But do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and thieves break through; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what shall he give as an exchange for it?" B Lay up, therefore, treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. And, "Be kind and merciful, just as your Father is kind and merciful, and makes his sun rise upon sinners, and the righteous, and the wicked. Do not be anxious about what you shall eat, or what you shall wear; are you not better than the birds and the beasts? And God feeds them. Be not anxious, therefore, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall wear; for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. But seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added to you. For where the treasure is, there also is the mind of man." And, "Do not do these things to be seen by men; otherwise, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."
16. Regarding being patient and prepared to serve all, and being free from anger, the things that were said by him are as follows: "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your tunic or your garment, do not withhold it. Whoever shall be angry is liable to the C fire. And to everyone who compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may admire your Father who is in heaven." For it is not necessary to resist; nor does God wish us to be imitators of the wicked, but he has exhorted us to lead all men away from shame and the lust for evil things through patience and gentleness. And we can demonstrate this to be true in the case of many who have lived among you, who have been changed from violent men and tyrants, having been overcome either by the persistence of the life of their neighbors, or by observing the strange patience of their companions when they were treated unjustly, or by the conduct of those who were cheated D in business.
A And concerning our not swearing at all, but always speaking the truth, He commanded thus: "Do not swear at all; but let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No' be 'No'; and whatever is more than these is from the evil one." And as to the fact that we ought to worship God alone, He persuaded us thus, saying: "The greatest commandment is: 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve, with all your heart, and with all your strength, the Lord your God who made you.'" And when someone approached Him and said, "Good Teacher," He answered, saying: "No one is good except God alone, who made all things." And if any are found not living as He taught, let them be known as not being Christians, even if they profess with the tongue the teachings of Christ; for He said that not those who only speak, but those who also perform the works, will be saved. For He spoke thus: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." For "Whoever hears me and does what I say, hears Him who sent me." "And many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and do mighty works?' And then I will say to them, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.' Then there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when the righteous shall shine as the sun, but the unrighteous shall be cast into eternal fire." For many will come in my name, clothed externally in sheep's skins, but being inwardly ravenous wolves. B "By their works you shall know them." And "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." And we demand that those who do not live according to His teachings, but are called Christians only by name, be punished by you also.
17. We, more than all others, endeavor to pay to those appointed by you everywhere the taxes and contributions, as we have been taught by Him. For at that time some approached Him and asked Him if it were necessary to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered: "Tell me, whose image does this coin have?" And they said, "Caesar's." And He answered them again: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." C Whence we worship God alone; but in other respects we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that along with your royal power you may also be found to possess a sound mind. But if you disregard our prayers and our bringing of all things into the light, we shall suffer no loss, believing, or rather being fully persuaded, that every man will pay the penalty for his actions in eternal fire D according to the merit of his deeds, and will be required to give an account for the powers he received from God, as Christ
A declared, saying: "To whom God has given more, of him shall more be required."
18. Look to the end of all the B emperors, who died the death common to all; for if this led to a state of unconsciousness, it would be a gain for all the wicked; but since perception remains with all who have existed, and eternal punishment is laid up, do not neglect to be persuaded and to believe that these things are true. For necromancy, and the inspection of the souls of incorrupt children, and the summoning of human souls, and those called by the magicians "dream-senders" and "assistants," C and what is done by those who know these things, let these persuade you that souls are in a state of perception even after death; and the people who are seized and cast out by the souls of the dead, whom all call demoniacs and madmen, and what are called oracles among you—that of Amphilochus, Dodona, the Pythian, and others like them—and the teachings of the writers, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates, and the pit in Homer, and the descent of Ulysses for the purpose of observing these things, and the testimonies of those who have said the same things—accept us on the same terms, D who believe in God no less than they, but rather more, we who expect to receive back our own bodies again, even though they are dead and thrown into the earth, affirming that nothing is impossible with God.
19. And truly it might seem incredible to one considering it, if we were not in the body, if someone were to say that from a small drop of human seed it is possible for bones and nerves and flesh, such as we see, to be fashioned. For let this be said for the sake of an hypothesis: if you were not such creatures yourselves, and had not been born from such, and if someone were to show you human seed and a painted image, and were to assert that it is possible for a human being to be generated from such a thing,
would you believe it before you saw it happen? No one would dare to gainsay it. In the same way, because you have not yet seen a dead man raised to life, you are incredulous. But just as you would never have believed in the beginning that it was possible for such beings as yourselves to come into existence from a tiny drop, and yet you see that you have come into being; in the same way, consider that it is not impossible for human bodies, though they have been dissolved and scattered like seeds into the earth, to rise again at the appointed time by the command of God and put on incorruption. For we have no way of saying what divine power those people attribute to God who say that each thing returns into that from which it originated, and that God can do nothing beyond this. But we perceive this: that they would never have believed it possible for them, or the whole universe, to come into existence such as they are, and from such things as they see they were made. But we have learned that it is better to believe in things that are beyond our own nature and human power, rather than to be incredulous like others; since we also know that our Teacher, Jesus Christ, said: A *The things impossible with men are possible with God.* And again, when He said: *Do not fear those who kill you, and after that can do nothing to you; but fear Him who after death has power to cast both soul and body into Gehenna.* Gehenna is a place where those who have lived unjustly, and who do not believe that these things shall come to pass which God taught through Christ, are to be punished.
20. B Sybil and Hystaspes said that things subject to corruption would be consumed by fire. The so-called Stoic philosophers teach that God Himself is resolved into fire, and they say that the world will rise again through change. But we believe that the Creator C of all things is something more excellent than these mutable things. If, therefore, we say some things that are similar to these poets and philosophers who are held in esteem among you, but other things more fully and divinely, and we alone do so with demonstration, why are we unjustly hated above all men? For in saying that all things were ordered and brought into being by God, we seem to propound the opinion of Plato; in saying that there will be a conflagration, that of the Stoics; D and in saying that the souls of the wicked, even after death, are punished while endowed with sensation, while those of the virtuous, freed from punishments, live in happiness, we seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers. And in saying that one ought not to worship the works of men’s hands, we say the same as the comic poet Menander, and *that which is worse than themselves one ought not to worship.
A For they declared the creator to be greater than the thing created.
21. But in saying that the Word, which is the first-begotten of God, was born without sexual union, Jesus Christ our Teacher, and that he was crucified and died and rose again and ascended into heaven, we bring forward nothing new beyond what you say concerning those whom you call the sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons of Jupiter your honored writers mention: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; Æsculapius, who, after being smitten by lightning because he performed the office of a physician, ascended into heaven; Bacchus, who was torn asunder; Hercules, who gave himself to the fire to escape his labors; the Dioscuri, born of Leda; B Perseus, born of Danaë; and Bellerophon, born of men, who was carried up by the horse Pegasus. And what need is there to speak of Ariadne and others like her who are said to have been transformed into stars? And why do you always insist that those of your own emperors who die be made immortal, and do you produce someone who swears that he has seen the burned Caesar ascending into heaven? Moreover, there is no need to tell those who already know what the deeds of each of these so-called sons of Jupiter were; it is sufficient to say that these things were written for the corruption and depravity of those who learn them, for it seems honorable to all to imitate the gods. But far be it from a sound mind to hold such thoughts regarding the gods.
A Such is the opinion regarding the gods, that even Zeus himself, who they say is the leader and father of all, being a parricide and born of a parricidal father, and overcome by the love of base and shameful pleasures, came to Ganymede and the many women he seduced, and admitted that his sons did the same! But, as we said before, the wicked demons did these things. We have been taught that only those who live holy and virtuous lives near to God are granted immortality, while those who act unjustly and do not repent, we believe, will be punished in eternal fire.
22. But the Son of God, who is called Jesus, even if he were only man by common generation, would still be worthy to be called the Son of God on account of his wisdom; for all writers call God the father of both men and gods. B And if we say that he was born in a unique way C apart from common generation as the Word of God from God, as we said before, let this be common to you, who call Hermes the word who is the messenger from God. But if anyone finds fault that he was crucified, this too is common to the sons of Zeus who have been enumerated before, according to your own teaching, for they did not escape sufferings. For their sufferings are not related as being similar to the death [of Jesus], but different; so that he does not seem to be inferior to them even in the specific nature of his suffering. But, as we promised, as the argument proceeds we will show him to be greater; or rather, it has already been demonstrated. For the one who is greater is evident from his deeds. And if we report that he was born through a virgin, let this also be considered common to you in relation to Perseus. And what we say about his healing the lame, D and those who were crippled from birth, to have been made whole by him, and…
his raising the dead, we shall appear to say things similar to what is told of Asclepius. A
25. B And that you may also know this, that whatever we say, having learned it from Christ and the prophets who preceded Him, is alone the truth, and older than all the writers who have ever existed; and we do not ask to be acknowledged because we say the same things as they do, but because we speak the truth; and that Jesus Christ alone was properly born as Son to God, being His Word, and first-born, and power; and having become man by His will, He taught us these things for the conversion and restoration of the human race. Before He was born as a man among men, some, influenced by the aforementioned C wicked demons, spoke through the poets of things as having happened, which they fabricated as myths: in the same way as they also wrought the calumnious and impious deeds spoken against us, of which there is neither witness nor proof, we shall provide this refutation.
24. First, that D because we say similar things to the Greeks, we alone are hated for the name of Christ; and although we do nothing wrong, we are put to death as sinners, while others in other places worship trees and rivers, and mice, and cats, and crocodiles, and
A many of the irrational animals; and since the same ones are not honored by all, but different ones in different places, the result is that all are impious toward one another because they do not worship the same things—which is the only thing you have to reproach us for: that we do not worship the same gods as you, nor do we offer to the dead libations and the savor of fat, and crowns and sacrifices in the sculptures [(26)]. For that the same things are not gods among some, while among others they are wild beasts, and among others they are considered sacrificial victims [(27)], you know precisely.
25. [(28)] Second, that we who, from every race of men of old [(29)], once worshipped Dionysus the son of Semele, and Apollo the son of Leto—who, because of their love for males, committed as many deeds as are shameful even to speak of—and Persephone and Aphrodite, who were goaded by lust [(30)] because of Adonis, B whose mysteries you also celebrate; or Asclepius, or any other of those called gods, even though death was threatened—we have, through Jesus Christ, [(51)] despised these, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impassible God, whom we do not believe to have come down upon Antiope and the others similarly, nor upon Ganymede, out of lust; nor that He was released from bonds by the aid of that hundred-handed one, obtained through Thetis; nor that, for this reason, Achilles worried about the captive Briseis and destroyed many of the Greeks C D
We pity those who believe such things, and we recognize the demons as their authors.
26. B Furthermore, A after Christ's ascent into heaven, the demons prompted certain men to call themselves gods; and these men were not only not persecuted by you, but were deemed worthy of honors. A certain Samaritan, Simon, from the village called Gitta, B who in the time of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the demons operating in him, performed magical miracles in your royal city of Rome, was considered a god and has been honored by you with a statue, which statue has been erected on the Tiber River between the two bridges, bearing this Roman inscription: *Simoni Deo Sancto*—that is, "To Simon the Holy God." C And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even in other nations, acknowledge him as their first god and worship him. And they speak of a certain Helena, who at that time traveled about with him and had previously lived in a brothel, as the first thought generated by him. D We also know of a certain Menander, a Samaritan himself from the village of Capparaea, who became a disciple of Simon and was also influenced by demons; he came to Antioch and deceived many through the art of magic. He even persuaded his followers that they would never die; and even now there are some from him who profess this. And there is a certain Marcion, from Pontus, who is still today teaching those who are persuaded by him to acknowledge some other god greater than the Creator. And through the aid of demons, he has caused many in every race of men to blaspheme and deny that He is the Creator of this world...
and to confess that some other being, as being greater, has made things greater than He. All who take their origin from these men, as we have said A, are called Christians; in the same way as those who do not share the same dogmas with the philosophers have the common name of philosophy applied to them. But whether they actually commit those infamous and legendary crimes—the extinguishing of the lamp, promiscuous intercourse, and the eating of human flesh—we do not know. But we do know that they are not persecuted or put to death by you, at least for their opinions. We have, moreover, composed a treatise against all the heresies that have existed, which, if you wish to read it, we will deliver to you. B
27. But we, that we may not be persecuted or act impiously, have learned that to expose even newborn children is the act of wicked men; first, because we see that almost all, in cases of this kind, are led to prostitution, not only girls, but also boys; and in the way that the ancients are said to have kept herds of oxen, or goats, or sheep, or herds of horses, so now also boys C are kept for the purpose of base abuse; and in like manner there are females and catamites and those who commit unspeakable deeds, and all among you are held accountable for these practices, and you do not legally punish such practitioners. And yet, what is more, you may find that those who commit these things—these unspeakable and impious crimes—you do not pursue; but *ours*—who have not even a common way of thinking with the philosophers, as we have said, and who bear the name of "Christian" which you use to reproach us—you persecute, while you act out the [fables of] Thyestean banquets or Oedipean unions. D
A And a crowd of males who abuse themselves B or men, and of women, and of those who perform unspeakable acts, stands on the side of this pollution in every nation. And you receive wages and tributes and taxes from these people, when you ought rather to cut such things out from your world. And whoever uses such people, in addition to the godless, impious, and unrestrained intercourse, happens, if the occasion arises, to mingle with a son, or a kinsman, or a brother. And there are those who even prostitute their own children and wives. And certain ones are openly and publicly castrated for this effeminate depravity, and they refer these mysteries back to the mother of the gods, and among every one of the [gods] thought to be gods among you, the serpent is inscribed as a great symbol and mystery. And the things openly performed and honored among you, as if the divine light were overturned and not present, you attribute to us; C acts which, for those of us who are far removed from doing any of these things, bring no harm, but rather bring harm to those who perform them and who bear false witness.
28. Among us, the prince of evil demons is called a serpent, and Satan, and the devil, as you may learn by searching through our writings—him whom Christ foretold would be sent into the fire along with his army and the men who follow him, to be punished for an endless age. For the patience of God, in not yet doing this, has come about for the sake of the human race. For He foreknows that some are destined to be saved through repentance, and perhaps some who are not yet even born. And from the beginning, He created the human race with intelligence and the power of choosing the truth and doing what is right, so that all men might be without excuse before God; for they have been created rational and capable of contemplation. But if anyone disbelieves that God cares for these things, or asserts that He does not exist—or, if He does exist, that He delights in wickedness, or that He remains like a stone, and that virtue and vice are nothing, but that men only think them to be good or bad by opinion—this is the greatest impiety and injustice. D
A
29. Furthermore, we are careful that no one who is exposed should perish, lest we should become murderers. But we either do not marry at all, unless it be for the upbringing of children, or we refrain from marriage and remain in complete continence. And already one of our number, in order to persuade you that for us there is no mystery in promiscuous intercourse, presented a petition in Alexandria to Felix the governor, asking him to allow a physician to remove his testicles. For the physicians there said that they were forbidden to do this without the governor’s permission. Since Felix was completely unwilling to sign [the petition], the young man remained in his own resolve, B content with his own conscience and that of those who held the same opinion. We have thought it not out of place to make mention here also of Antinous, who has only lately appeared, and whom all were driven to worship as a god C out of fear, though they knew who he was and whence he came.
30. But, lest anyone should object to us: "What prevents D the one we call Christ, being a man born of men, from having performed the miracles we speak of by magical art, and from thus appearing to be the Son of God?"—we shall now proceed to the demonstration, not believing those who speak, but being necessarily convinced by those who prophesied before they ever came to pass, because we see things have happened and are happening just as they were predicted; and this is the strongest and most true demonstration.
A And to you, as we think, it will appear so.
31. There have been prophets among the Jews, through whom the prophetic Spirit made known those things that were about to come to pass, before they happened. B And those who were kings in Judea from time to time, obtaining the prophecies—which were spoken just as they were prophesied—in their own Hebrew tongue, documented in books by the prophets themselves, kept them. When Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, was building a library [(64)], and was trying to collect the writings of all men, he was informed of these prophecies as well, and sent C to Herod, who was then king of the Jews, requesting that the books of the prophecies be sent to him. And King Herod did indeed send them, written in their aforementioned Hebrew tongue. But since the things written in them were not known to the Egyptians, he requested him again to send men to translate them into the Greek tongue. And upon this being done, the books remained with the Egyptians even until now, and they exist everywhere with all the Jews—who, although they read them, do not understand the things said; D but they consider us as enemies and foes, and, like you, they put us to death and punish us whenever they can, as you also are able to be persuaded. For indeed in the Jewish war that was finished recently, Barchochebas, the ringleader of the Jewish revolt, ordered Christians alone to terrible punishments unless they would deny Jesus Christ and utter blasphemies.
A In these books of the prophets, we have found Jesus our Christ foretold, coming, born through a virgin, growing to manhood, healing every disease and every infirmity, and raising the dead, and being envied, and unknown, and crucified, and dying, and rising again, and ascending into heaven; and that He is and is called the Son of God, and that some are sent by Him into every race of men to preach these things, and that men from the nations believe in Him more. He was prophesied before He appeared, at times five thousand years B before, at times three thousand, at times two thousand, and again one thousand, and at other times eight hundred. For according to the succession of generations C others and others became prophets.
32. Moses indeed, who was the first of the prophets, spoke word for word as follows: *There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until He shall come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the expectation of the nations, binding to the vine his foal, washing his robe in the blood of the grape* (Gen. XLIX, 10). It is therefore your duty to investigate accurately and learn until what time there was a prince and king among the Jews of their own. [It was] until the appearance of Jesus Christ our teacher, and interpreter of the obscure prophecies, as it was foretold by the divine holy prophetic Spirit through Moses, that a prince would not fail from the Jews until He might come for whom the kingdom is reserved. For Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom they have also obtained the name of Jews; and you, after His manifestation, have both ruled over the Jews and taken possession of all their land. But the phrase, *He shall be the expectation of the nations*, was a sign that there would be [those] from all the nations who would expect D Him to come again—which is before your eyes to see and to be convinced by the deed.
B For from every human race they look for Him who was crucified in Judæa, after whom the land of the Jews was immediately handed over to you as captives of the spear. And the words, “Binding his foal to the vine, and washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” were a symbol indicating the things that were to happen to Christ and the things {to be} performed by Him. For a certain ass’s foal was standing in a certain entrance of a village tied to a vine, which He then bade His acquaintances bring to Him; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it and entered into Jerusalem, where the greatest temple of the Jews was, which was later destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, so that the remainder of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the expression, “Washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” was a pre-announcing of the passion which He was to suffer, cleansing with His blood those who believe in Him. For the garment called by the divine Spirit through the prophet is the people who believe in Him, in whom dwells the seed that is from God, the Word. And what is said, “the blood of the grape,” signified that He who was to appear would indeed have blood, but not from human seed, but from divine power. And the Primary Power C after the Father of all and Lord God is the Son, the Word; how He, having been made flesh, became man, we shall say in the following. For just as the blood of the vine, not man, but God has made, so also this was signified, that the blood would be [made] not from human seed, but from the power of God, as we said before. And Isaiah too, another prophet, prophesying the same things through other expressions, spoke thus: “A star shall arise D out of Jacob, and a flower shall rise from the root of Jesse; and in his arm shall the nations hope.” And a shining star did arise, and a flower rose from the root of Jesse, [and] this is Christ. For through a virgin of the seed of Jacob, who became the father of Judah, the declared father of the Jews, He was born through the power of God; and Jesse became his forefather according to the oracle, while He was the son of Jacob and Judah according to the succession of the lineage.
35. And again, as to how it was prophesied by Isaiah that He would be born through a virgin, listen. So au-
- Athorities spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son; and they shall say concerning his name: God with us" (Isa. VII, 14). For those things which seemed incredible and impossible to men to happen, these God foretold by the prophetic Spirit would come to pass, so that, when they should happen, faith in them would not be diminished, but rather that from their having been predicted, they would be believed. And so that certain ones who have not understood the prophecy that was declared might not bring against us the same accusations we brought against the poets, who said that Zeus came to women for the sake of sexual pleasure, we shall endeavor to explain the words. The *Behold, a virgin shall be with child* signifies that the virgin would conceive without sexual intercourse. For if she had had intercourse with anyone, she would no longer be a virgin; but the power of God, having come upon the Virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her, being a virgin, to be with child. And the Angel of God, who was sent to that same Virgin at that time, brought her the good news by saying: B "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb by the Holy Spirit, and shall bring forth a son, and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and you shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins" (Luc. I, 31, 32; Matth. I, 21), just as those who have recorded all things concerning our Savior Jesus Christ have instructed, whom we also believed; since also through Isaiah, who was previously mentioned, the prophetic Spirit said that he would be born in this manner, as we have foretold. It is not right, therefore, to understand the Spirit and the power which is from God as anything other than the Word, which is also the first-begotten to God, as the prophet Moses, who was previously mentioned, signified. And this power, having come upon the Virgin and overshadowed her, rendered her pregnant not by sexual intercourse, but by [divine] power. And the name Jesus in the Hebrew language signifies "Savior" in the Greek dialect. Wherefore also the angel said to the Virgin: "And you shall call his name Jesus; for he shall C save his people from their sins." And that those who prophesy are inspired by no other than the divine Word, you yourselves, I assume, will agree.
34. And as to where in the lands he was to be born, as another prophet, Micah, foretold, listen. He spoke thus: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means
A are you least among the governors of Judah; for from you shall go forth a leader who will shepherd my people." Now there is a certain village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia distant from Jerusalem, in which B Jesus Christ was born, as you can also learn from the enrollments of the census that took place under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea.
35. But that Christ was to live hidden from other men until he reached man's estate, which is what came to pass; hear the things predicted concerning this—for these represent it: "A child has been born to us, and a youth has been given to us; his government is upon his shoulders," an indication of the power of the cross, to which, when he was crucified, he applied his shoulders, as will be demonstrated more clearly as the discourse proceeds. Again, the same prophet Isaiah, divinely inspired by the prophetic Spirit, said: "I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They ask of me now for judgment, and they dare to approach God." And again, in other words, he says through another prophet: "They pierced my feet and my hands, and they cast lots upon my clothing." And David, the king and prophet who said these things, did not suffer any of them. But the hands of Christ Jesus were stretched out when he was crucified by the Jews who were gainsaying him and asserting that he was not the Christ. For, as the prophet said, they mocked him, seated him upon a judgment seat, and said, "Judge for us." C But the phrase, "They pierced my hands and my feet," was an account of the nails that were driven into his hands and feet on the cross. And after they crucified him, those who had crucified him cast lots for his clothing and divided it among themselves. And that these things took place, you can learn from the acts recorded under Pontius Pilate. And that it was explicitly prophesied that he would sit upon the foal of an ass and enter Jerusalem, we shall provide the words of the prophecy from another prophet, Zephaniah. They are as follows: "Rejoice greatly, D daughter of Zion,"
preach, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King comes to thee, meek, sitting upon an ass, and a foal the son of a beast of burden." B
36. Whenever you hear the sayings of the prophets spoken as if from the person of the inspired authors themselves, do not believe that they are spoken by those who have been moved, but rather by the Divine Word who moves them. For sometimes He speaks in a way that predicts future events, sometimes He speaks from the person of the Lord of all and God the Father, sometimes from the person of Christ, and sometimes from the person of the peoples answering the Lord or His Father. This is similar to what can be observed in your own writers, where one person writes the whole, but introduces different persons speaking. Because the Jews, in whose hands the books of the prophets remain, did not understand this, they did not recognize Christ when He came; indeed, they even pursue us with hatred—we who say that He has come and who demonstrate that He was crucified by them, just as it had been foretold.
37. And so that you may have a clear understanding of this point: the following words were spoken from the person of the Father through the aforementioned prophet Isaiah: "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood. Woe to a sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed! lawless children, you have forsaken the Lord." Again, elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks similarly from the person of the Father: "What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet." And again elsewhere: "Your new moons and your sabbaths my soul hates, and I cannot endure the great day of fasting and idleness; even if you come to appear before me, I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Even if you offer fine flour, incense, it is an abomination to me; I do not desire the fat of rams and the blood of bulls. For who has sought these things from your hands? But loose every bond of wickedness, tear apart the knots of oppressive agreements; shelter the homeless and the naked, break your bread for the hungry." C You are able, therefore, to understand what sorts of things are taught through the prophets from God.
38. Furthermore, when the prophetic Spirit speaks from the person of Christ, He says thus: "I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to D
those who walk in a way that is not good." A And again: "I have given my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting. And the Lord became my helper; for this reason I was not confounded, but I have set my face as a hard rock, and I knew that I shall not be ashamed, because He who justifies me is near." And again when He says: "They cast lots upon my garment, and pierced my feet and hands." I for my part slept and took sleep, and arose, because the Lord took me up. And again when He says: "They spoke with their lips, they wagged their head, saying: Let Him deliver Himself." All of which things you can learn happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews. For when He was crucified, they twisted their lips and wagged their heads, saying: "He who raised the dead, let Him deliver Himself."
59. B But when the prophetic Spirit speaks as predicting future events, He says thus: "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, and they shall not learn any more to make war." And that this has come to pass, you can be convinced. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world twelve men, and these were illiterate and not endowed with the gift of speech; but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach all men the word of God; and we, who formerly were murderous toward one another, C not only do not make war against our enemies, but also, in order not to lie or deceive those who examine us, we gladly die, confessing Christ. For it would have been easy to imitate that which is said: "The tongue has sworn, but the mind is unsworn." But it would be ridiculous if soldiers, constrained by an oath to you and enlisted, set your provided faith—you who have no incorruptible gift to bestow upon them—above their own lives and parents and country and all their kin; while we, who are desirous of an incorruptible life, do not endure all things, so that we may obtain from Him who is able to bestow them what we desire.
40. D Hear how it was also predicted concerning those who preached His doctrine and announced His advent, the aforesaid prophet and king saying thus through the prophetic Spirit: "Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night announces knowledge. There are no speeches or words whose voices are not heard."
Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun He has set His tabernacle, and He Himself as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber shall exult as a giant to run his course." A We have deemed it fitting and appropriate, in addition to these, to add other prophecies of this same David, from which you may learn how the prophetic Spirit exhorts men to live; how it foretells the conspiracy formed against Christ by Herod, the king of the Jews, and by the Jews themselves, and by Pilate, your procurator among them, together with his soldiers; and that He was to be believed in by men of every race; and that God calls Him Son, and has promised to subject all His enemies to Him; and how the demons, as far as lies in their power, endeavor to escape the authority of God, the Father of all B and Lord, and of Christ Himself; and finally how God calls all men to repentance before the day of judgment arrives. The words are thus: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of the pestilent; but his will is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall be like the tree planted by the streams of waters, which shall give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off, and all things whatsoever he does shall prosper. Not so the ungodly, not so; but rather as the chaff which the wind casts away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish. C Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate empty things? The kings of the earth stood, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ, saying: 'Let us tear asunder their bonds, and cast away from us their yoke.' He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn, and the Lord shall deride them. Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury shall He trouble them. But I have been established king by Him, upon Sion, His holy mountain, declaring the commandment of the Lord. The Lord said to me: 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. D You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron; as vessels of a potter You shall crush them.' And now, O kings, understand; be instructed, all you who judge the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling. Lay hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish from the righteous way. When His wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all who trust in Him."
41. And again, in another prophecy, the prophetic Spirit, showing by the same David that Christ would reign after the punishment of the cross, speaks thus: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and declare His salvation from day to day. For the Lord is great and highly to be praised, and terrible above all gods; for all the gods of the nations are the idols of demons, but the Lord made the heavens. A Glory and praise are before His face, and strength and exultation are in the place of His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, the Father of the ages, glory; receive grace, and enter into His sight, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth tremble at His face, and let it be set aright, and let it not be shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations: The Lord has reigned from the tree.
42. But when the prophetic Spirit speaks of things to come as if they had already happened, as even in the passages we have adduced is to be observed, we shall explain this, that it may provide no excuse to those who read. It foretells things that are absolutely known to be coming to pass as if they had already happened. But as to why the matter should be so understood, turn your minds to what is to be said. David B fifteen hundred years before Christ was made man and was crucified, uttered the things aforementioned; and no one of those who lived before him, when crucified, brought joy to the nations, nor even any who lived after him. But our Jesus Christ, being crucified and having died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, and reigned; and because of those things which have been published in all nations by His apostles from Him, there is joy for those who look for the incorruptible life announced by Him.
43. But in order that no one may infer from what we have explained that we say that all things happen C by the necessity of fate, because we have said they were foreknown, we also dissolve this. Taught by the prophets, we know that punishments and torments...
A and good rewards are rendered according to the merit of each person's actions, and we declare this to be true. For if this is not so, and all things happen according to fate, then nothing is at all up to us. For if it were fated for this person to be good, and that person to be evil, neither would the one be acceptable, nor the other blameworthy. Furthermore, if the human race does not have the power by free choice to flee from what is shameful and to choose what is noble, then it is not responsible for any actions whatsoever. But that it is by free choice that a man both achieves success and falls into error, we demonstrate as follows: we see the same man changing to opposite courses. B But if it were fated that he should be either evil or virtuous, he would never be capable of opposite courses, nor would he change so often. And, indeed, neither would some be good and others evil; for we would then be declaring fate to be the cause of evil, and that it acts in opposition to itself; or that view would seem to us true, which we have already mentioned, that there is no such thing as virtue or vice, but things are judged good or evil only by opinion, which, as true reason shows, is the greatest impiety and injustice. But we say that this fate is inevitable for those who choose what is good, namely, the worthy rewards; and for those who choose the opposite, the worthy punishments. For God did not make man like other things, such as trees and four-footed beasts, which can do nothing by free choice. C For he would not be worthy of reward or praise if he did not choose the good for himself, but was born as such; nor would he be justly punished if he were evil, as one who was not such of his own accord, but could not be anything else than what he had been born.
44. The Holy Spirit taught us these things, saying through Moses to the first created man as follows, as though spoken by God: “Behold, before thy face are good and evil; choose the good.” And again through Isaiah, another prophet, these things were spoken to the same effect as though from the Father of all and the Lord God: “Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evils from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow; and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord. D And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool; and if they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you will not obey me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” Now, to say “The sword shall devour you” does not have this force and meaning, that the sword is to slay those who...
have disobeyed, but the sword of God is fire 12, of which those who choose to do evil things become the food. Therefore He says, “The sword shall devour you.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. If He were speaking of a sword that cuts and immediately passes away, He would not have said, “devour.” Thus, even Plato, in saying, “The blame is his who chooses; God is blameless” 13, took it from Moses the prophet. For Moses is older than all the writers among the Greeks; and all that the philosophers and poets have said, whether concerning the immortality of the soul, or the punishments after death, or the contemplation of things in heaven, or similar doctrines, they were able to discern and explain because they took their starting points from the prophets. Hence, it seems that there are seeds of truth in all men. But it is evident that they did not grasp them with complete accuracy when they speak things contrary to themselves. Therefore B, when we say that future events have been foretold, we do not say that they happen by the necessity of fate; but, since God foreknows the future actions of all men, and has established that each person will be rewarded according to the merit of his deeds, and because there is a decree from Him that each of the men who is about to be rewarded according to the merit of his actions, and what is to befall him according to the worth of what he has done, He foretells it through the prophetic Spirit, always calling the human race to attention and remembrance, and showing that He cares for them and provides for them. But by the operation of the evil demons, death was ordained 15 against those who read the books of Hystaspes or the Sibyl or the prophets, so that by fear they might turn men away from receiving knowledge of good things, and keep them in slavery to themselves; a thing which, in the end, they were unable to accomplish. For we not only read them fearlessly, but also, as you see, offer them for you to inspect, knowing that they will be pleasing to all. And even if we persuade but a few, we shall have gained the greatest rewards; for like good husbandmen, we shall receive our recompense from the Lord.
45. C That the God and Father of all was to take up Christ into heaven after He had raised Him from the dead, and to keep Him there until He should smite the demons who are His enemies, and until the number of those foreknown by Him to be good and virtuous should be completed—on account of whom even now the conflagration has not been brought D upon the world—is understood from what was previously said.
A Listen to the words of the prophet David, which are of this kind: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. The Lord will send forth the rod of your power from Jerusalem; and rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the sovereignty in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints; from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you.'" Therefore, what is said, "The rod of your power he will send forth from Jerusalem," is a prediction of that powerful word, which his apostles, having gone forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere. And although death B has been decreed and appointed against those who teach or altogether confess the name of Christ, we everywhere both embrace it and teach it. But if you also, as enemies, encounter these words, you can do no more, as we have said before, than kill; which brings no harm to us, but for you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, it prepares eternal punishment through fire.
46. But that some should not, by twisting what we have taught, say that we claim Christ was born one hundred and fifty years ago under Cyrenius, and that he taught what we say he taught later, in the times of Pontius Pilate; and should they further object, as if all men who were born before that time were unaccountable, we shall settle this difficulty. We have been taught that Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have previously announced that He is the Word, of which every race of men partook; C and those who lived with the Word are Christians, even if they were deemed atheists; such as among the Greeks were Socrates and Heraclitus, and those like them; and among the barbarians, Abraham, and Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael, and Elias, and many others, whose actions or names we deem it long to recount, and therefore we now pass them by. So that even those who lived before D without the Word were useless and enemies to Christ, and murderers of those who lived with the Word; but those who lived and live with the Word are Christians, and are fearless and undisturbed. And for what reason He, through the power of the Word, according to the will of the Father of all and of the Lord God, was born a man of a Virgin, and was named Jesus, and was crucified and died and rose again.
And that this was to happen, a prudent man can understand from what has been said, however much the truth may be obscured by those who have been named. But since a demonstration of this matter is not strictly necessary at present, let us proceed to the proofs that are more urgent.
47. That the land of the Jews was going to be laid desolate, hear what the prophetic Spirit says. The words are presented as if from the person of the peoples who were struck with wonder at what had happened. They are as follows: A *Zion has become a desert, as Jerusalem has become a desert; our house and our holy place has become a curse; and the glory which our fathers blessed has been burned with fire, and all its glorious things have fallen. And despite all these things, you held back, and were silent, and humiliated us exceedingly.* That Jerusalem has been brought to desolation, as it was foretold would happen, you are yourselves convinced. And that it was to be brought into desolation, and that no one of them was to be permitted to dwell there, has been foretold by the prophet Isaiah in this way: *Their land is a desert; their enemies shall devour it before them, and there shall be no one of them to dwell in it.* And you know well that it is strictly guarded by you, that no one may be in it; and that death has been decreed against any Jew who is caught entering it. B
48. And hear these words, that it was foretold that our Christ would cure all diseases and raise the dead: *At his coming the lame shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed, and the dead shall rise, and shall walk.* And that He did these things, you can learn from the Acts of what was done by Him under Pontius Pilate. And hear how it was foretold by the prophetic Spirit that He would be removed along with the men who put their hope in Him, from what was said through Isaiah. These are the words: *Behold how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one considers. From the face of unrighteousness the righteous is taken away, and his burial shall be in peace, he is taken out of the way.*
49. And again, how it was said by Isaiah that the peoples of the nations, who had not been expecting Him, would worship Him, while the Jews, who were always expecting, would not recognize Him when He came. These words are spoken as if from the person of Christ Himself. They are these: C *I became manifest to those who did not inquire for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, Behold, I am*
A present, to a nation that did not call upon my name. I spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, who walked in a way that was not good, but after their own sins; a people that provoketh me to anger to my face.* For the Jews, having the prophecies and always expecting the Christ to come, failed to recognize Him; and not only did they fail to recognize Him, but they even abused Him. But those from among the Gentiles, who had never heard anything about Christ until the apostles who went out from Jerusalem made known to them the things concerning Him and delivered the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, B and took leave of their idols, and dedicated themselves to the unbegotten God through Christ. And that it was foreknown that these blasphemies would be spoken against those who confess Christ, and how wretched those are who blaspheme Him and say that it is a good thing to observe the old customs, hear what was briefly said by Isaiah. These are the words: *Woe to those who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter.* C
50. But that He also endured to become man for our sake, to suffer and be dishonored, and will come again with glory, hear the prophecies delivered on this subject. They are these: *Because they delivered His soul to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors; He bore the sins of many, and shall make intercession for the transgressors. For lo, my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted, and shall be glorified greatly. As many were astonished at thee, so shall thy appearance be without glory from men, and thy glory from men. So shall many nations wonder, and kings shall shut their mouths. For those to whom it was not told concerning Him, shall see; and those who have not heard, shall understand. Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have announced before Him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land; He has no form or glory; and we saw Him, and He had no form or beauty, but His form was dishonored and failing more than the sons of men.* A man in a state of suffering, and knowing how to bear infirmity; for His face is turned away, He was dishonored and not esteemed. D He bears our sins, and suffers pain for us; and we accounted Him to be in labor, and in suffering, and in affliction. But He was wounded for our iniquities, and was sick because of our sins. The chastisement of peace was upon Him; by His stripes we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; every man has gone astray in his own way; and the Lord delivered Him up for our iniquities; and He, because of His affli
affliction, opens not His mouth. As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. When, therefore, He had been crucified, all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; but afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as about to happen, and they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent from Him to them, and had gone to every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles.
B But that the prophetic Spirit signified that He who suffers these things has an unenarrable generation, and reigns over His enemies, He spoke thus: "Who shall declare His generation? Because His life is taken from the earth; for the iniquities of His people He comes to death. And I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death; because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth: and the Lord desires to cleanse Him from His stripe. If He shall be given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord desires to take away His soul from sorrow, to show Him light, and to form Him in understanding, to justify the righteous man who serves many well; and He Himself shall bear our sins; therefore He shall possess many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death; and He was numbered among the transgressors, and He Himself bore the sins of many, and for their iniquities He was delivered."
C As to how it was also foretold that He would ascend into heaven, hear. For it is thus said: "Lift up the gates of heaven; be opened, that the King of glory may enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord is strong and mighty." And as to how He is to come from the heavens with glory, hear what things were said concerning this by Jeremiah the prophet. And they are as follows: "Behold, as a son of man He comes upon the clouds of heaven, and His angels with Him."
D Since, therefore, we have shown that all things that have happened were foretold by the prophets before they came to pass, it is necessary to believe that those things which are similarly foretold, and are about to happen, will also infallibly occur. For in the same manner as the things which have already happened were foretold and were not known, so also the things that remain, even if they are unknown and disbelieved, will happen. For the prophets foretold two advents of His: one, which has already taken place as a man who is liable to suffering; and the second, when...
with glory from the heavens with His angelic host He is preached to be coming, when He will also raise the bodies of all men who have existed, and will clothe the bodies of the worthy with incorruption, but will send those of the unjust, in eternal sensation along with the wicked demons, into the eternal fire. And we shall demonstrate how these also were predicted to happen. For Ezekiel the prophet set it forth as follows: A *Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow up again, and every knee shall bow to the Lord, and every tongue shall confess to Him.* And as for the sensation and the punishment in which the unjust are to be, hear what was similarly said regarding this. It is as follows: *Their worm shall not cease, and their fire shall not be quenched.* And then they will repent, when it will be of no benefit to them. And what the peoples of the Jews are to say and do, when they see Him coming in glory, was prophesied by Zechariah the prophet thus: *I will command the four winds to gather the scattered children; I will command the North to bring, and the South not to hinder.* And then in Jerusalem there shall be a great lamentation, not a lamentation of mouths or lips, but a lamentation of the heart; and they shall not tear their garments, but their minds. *Tribe shall mourn against tribe,* and then *they shall look on Him whom they pierced,* and they shall say: "Why, O Lord, did You make us wander from Your way? The glory which our fathers blessed has become for us a reproach."
C Having many other prophecies to mention, we stop, considering these sufficient for persuasion for those who have ears to hear and understand, and believing that they are able to perceive that we do not, in the manner and fashion of the myths that are told concerning those thought to be the sons of Zeus, merely make assertions without being able to offer proof. For by what argument would we be persuaded that a man crucified is the firstborn to the unbegotten God, and that He will execute judgment upon the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him, proclaimed before He came and became man, and saw them coming to pass in this way? We see the desolation of the land of the Jews, and those from every race of men who have been persuaded by the teaching of His apostles, and who have renounced the old things D in which, wandering, they were caught, seeing ourselves, and perceiving that there are more and truer Christians out of the nations than from the Jews and Samaritans. For all other races of men are called "nations" by the prophetic Spirit.
A And the Jewish and Samaritan tribe are called Israel and the house of Jacob. But as it was prophesied that more would believe from the nations than from the Jews and Samaritans, we declare the things prophesied. It was spoken thus: "Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor, for there are many more children of the desolate one than of her who has a husband." For all the nations were desolate of the true God, serving the works of their own hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the Word of God delivered to them through the prophets, and having always awaited the Christ, failed to recognize Him when He appeared, except for a few whom the holy prophetic Spirit foretold through Isaiah would be saved. He spoke as if from their person: "Unless the Lord had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah." For Sodom and Gomorrah are recorded by Moses as being certain cities of impious men, which God destroyed by burning them with fire and brimstone, with none saved in them except a certain foreigner of Chaldean race, whose name was Lot; with whom also his daughters were saved. And that there is a whole region of theirs desolate, and scorched, and remaining unfruitful, those who wish to may see. But that those from the nations were also foreknown B as more true and more faithful, we declare the things spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He says thus: "Israel is uncircumcised in heart, but the nations in the foreskin." So then, things seen in such number are able to bring conviction and faith, along with reason, to those who embrace the truth and are not motivated by love of glory, nor governed by passions.
54. Those who relate the myths of the poets bring forward no proof at all for the young who learn them; and we demonstrate that these things were invented for the sake of deceiving and leading astray the human race, by the operation of evil demons. For having heard through the prophets that it was foretold that Christ would come, and that the impious among men would be punished by fire, they put forward many to be said C to be sons to Zeus, thinking they would be able to cause humans to consider the things about Christ a collection of myths, similar to those told by the poets.
A And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all the nations, wherever they were more inclined to hear the prophets who proclaimed Christ beforehand. But that they, even when hearing the things said through the prophets, did not understand them accurately, but, as if led astray, imitated the things concerning our Christ, we shall make clear. Moses, therefore, the prophet, as we have mentioned, was older than all writers; and through him, as we have signaled beforehand, it was prophesied thus: *There shall not fail a prince from Judah, and a leader from his thighs, until He comes to Whom it is reserved; and He will be the expectation of the nations, binding to the vine His foal, washing His robe in the blood of the grape.* B Having heard these prophetic words, the demons caused it to be said that Dionysus was born the son of Zeus, and they handed down that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they write of wine in his mysteries, and they taught that, after having been torn into pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because through the prophecy of Moses it was not explicitly signaled whether the One who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would remain on earth while riding on a foal, or if He would ascend into heaven; and because the name of the foal could signify both the foal of an ass and of a horse; and since they did not know whether the One being proclaimed would be a foal of an ass as a symbol of His presence, or of a horse, and whether He was the Son of God, as we have mentioned, or a man; C they said that Bellerophon, being a man born of men, also ascended into heaven on his horse Pegasus. But when they heard through the other prophet, Isaiah, that He would be born of a Virgin, and would ascend into heaven by His own power, they sought to have Perseus spoken of. And when they knew that it had been said, D as it is predicted in the aforementioned prophecies, *Strong as a giant to run His course*, they spoke of a strong Hercules.
And again, when they learned that it had been A predicted He would heal every disease and raise the dead, they brought forward Aesculapius.
55. But in no case, nor in any of those who are called sons of Jupiter, did they imitate the crucifixion. For it did not enter their minds, as has been shown, that it was spoken symbolically of all things said to this effect; which, as the prophet said, is the greatest symbol of His power and authority, as is shown from things that fall under our observation. For consider all things in the world, whether they can be administered or have any connection with one another B without this figure. The sea cannot be crossed unless that trophy which is called a sail remains intact in the ship; the earth is not plowed without it; diggers do not perform their work, nor do craftsmen work likewise, unless they use tools that have this figure. The human figure differs from that of the irrational animals in nothing else but in being upright, and in having the hands extended, and in having the so-called nose, which acts as an air passage for the animal, set out from the forehead; and it shows nothing else but the figure of the cross. And it was spoken through the prophet thus: *The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord*. Moreover, the symbols among you show the power of this C figure—the [vexilla] (standards) and the trophies by which your processions everywhere take place; you show the signs of your authority and power in these, even if you do it without understanding. And you set up the images of your dead emperors in this figure, and you call them gods by inscriptions. And by word D
and consideration of the figure visible to all, we have exhorted you to the best of our ability, and we know that we shall henceforth be free from blame, even if you remain incredulous. For what was in our power has been completed and finished. A
56. But it was not enough for the wicked demons to produce, before the appearance of Christ, those who are said to have been born as sons to Zeus; but after he had appeared and lived among men, and they had learned how he had been proclaimed by the prophets, and they knew that he was believed in and expected in every race of men, again, as we have already declared, they put forward others: Simon and Menander from Samaria, who, after performing magical feats, deceived many and still keep those they have deceived. For indeed, in your royal city of Rome, as we have said before, when Simon arrived in the time of Claudius Caesar, he so astonished the sacred senate and the Roman people that he was thought to be a god, and was honored with a statue, just as the other gods you worship among you are honored. B Therefore, we ask that you take the sacred senate and your own people as witnesses to this petition of ours, so that if there is anyone held by his teachings, having learned the truth, he may be able to flee from error; and, if you wish, destroy the statue.
57. For the wicked demons are not able to persuade even that there is no conflagration for the punishment of the ungodly, just as they were not able to act so that the coming of Christ would be hidden, but only this: they are able to cause those who live irrationally, being brought up in wicked customs, and who are lovers of reputation (57), to kill and hate us. C Those whom we do not merely not hate, but, as is evident, being moved by compassion, we desire to persuade to change and convert. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged that we must all die, and it is nothing new, but the same things occur in this administration of affairs; the satiety of which, if it takes hold of those participating in them even for a year, those men ought, so that they may always be free from passion and free from want, to pay attention to our teachings. But if they disbelieve that there is anything after death, and declare that the dying pass into insensibility, into the passions of those here and D the truth being known, may flee from error. Then he adds: For indeed, the wicked demons cannot persuade [that there is] no conflagration for the punishment of the ungodly; that is, since men are free, and their reward is kept for them according to their good and evil [deeds], the good can be made out of the evil, and be converted from error to the truth. Justin is accustomed to establish a close relationship, as can be seen in numbers 28 and 43, between the liberty of man and the future judgment.
A Since they desire to benefit us, yet show themselves to be base, misanthropic, and ambitious, they do not kill us in order to deliver us, but rather execute us as though robbing us of life and pleasure.
58. The wicked demons have also sent forth Marcion, as we have said, who even now teaches to deny that God is the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, and to deny that Christ, prophesied by the prophets, is His Son. He proclaims another god besides the Creator of all things, and likewise another son. Many have believed in him, as if he alone had knowledge of the truth, and they laugh at us, having no demonstration for what they say. Like sheep snatched away by a wolf, they are mindlessly given over as prey to impious doctrines and demons. For these B so-called demons contend and fight for nothing other than to lead men away from the Creator God and His firstborn, Christ. Those who are unable to raise themselves from the earth, they have attached and continue to attach to earthly and man-made things; but those who strive for the contemplation of heavenly matters, they trip up and, unless they possess a sound mind and a pure, passionless life, they cast them into impiety.
59. And that you may understand that Plato received from our teachers—that is, from the doctrine disseminated through the prophets C—the statement that God, having turned formless matter, made the world, listen to the words spoken word-for-word through Moses, the aforementioned first prophet, who is older than all the writers among the Greeks. Through him, the prophetic Spirit explains how God in the beginning created the world and from what materials, saying: *In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. And God said, Let there be light, and it was so.* Thus, by the Word of God, the whole world was created out of the D subjects set forth and indicated beforehand through Moses, as Plato and those who say the same things as he does teach, and as we ourselves have learned; and it is permissible for you to perceive the same.
And we know that what the poets call Erebus was also spoken of earlier by Moses. A
60. B And regarding what is investigated in Plato’s *Timaeus* concerning the Son of God, when he says, "He decussated Him in the universe," he spoke having borrowed it in like manner from Moses. For it is written in the books of Moses that at that time, when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt and had come into the wilderness, venomous beasts, both vipers and asps and every kind of serpent, met them and were killing the people; and by an inspiration and energy coming from God, Moses took bronze and made the form of a cross, B and set this upon the holy tabernacle, and said to the people: "If you look C upon this sign and believe, you shall be saved in it." And when this was done, he records that the serpents perished, and that the people were in this way delivered from the dying of the venom, although it was not by the sign that they were healed (for it would be foolish to think so), but because it was declared that a sign was given to those who were perishing through the D serpents, which was a type of the mystery of Christ, by which the power of the serpent, which brought about the transgression of the first man, is destroyed, and life is offered to those who believe in Him who was manifested through this sign, that is, the power of the crucified one.
NOTES ON THE PRECEDING
(63) And those who say the same things. Thirlby has written regarding this same passage of Justin. This conjecture can be confirmed from number 62 where "the same things" is read, and from very many other places.
(64) He decussated Him in the universe. Nothing is to be observed here. 1. Plato did not say these things about the Son of God, who was not at all inspired by the knowledge of the Word, but about the world-soul. Nor did Plato derive this opinion from the sources of Moses. 2. If St. Justin expounds the opinion of Plato less accurately, he makes his own opinion sufficiently clear, namely, that the Word is extended in the world in the form of a cross. For he only censures this in Plato, whom he thought had spoken concerning the Word, that he said the Word was "decussated," but not that it was extended in the form of a cross. Justin was not the only one to think this. St. Basil says in the beginning of the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, n. 249: "That the death of the cross was especially honored, either so that the individual parts of the world might be brought to salvation through the parts of the cross; or because even before the wooden cross, a certain intelligible cross was depicted in the whole universe." Hence the Valentinians used to say that the Word in the creation of the world sustained the parts of Horos and the cross. And that they truly called the cross "insofar as it strengthens and stabilizes," but Horos "insofar as it divides and distinguishes" (Iren. lib. 1, c. 3, n. 5). Justin seems to have said that the Word was extended in the likeness of a cross for the creation of the world, because the cross is extended to all the parts of the world, as Julius Firmicus observes (lib. *De profan. relig.*) and Jerome in the Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 318. The author of the epistle which bears the name of St. Barnabas seems to feel the same as Justin, namely, that the Word of God was extended in the universe in the form of a cross. For after he narrated that the cross was erected by Moses, he adds at n. 12: "You have also in this the glory of Jesus, because in Him are all things, and for Him." For by these words the creation of the universe is signified. (From the Addenda and Corrigenda).
(65) Type of the cross. Clericus criticizes two things in this place: that Justin says the cross was made by Moses, and that he says the bronze cross. Justin seems to have thought the cross was bronze, but we must understand that, when Moses took the bronze, what he made was the figure of the cross, by melting down the serpent and placing it upon the cross, as is observed from *Dialog*. n. 94, where he clearly teaches that the bronze serpent had been placed upon a sign, or cross. As for Clericus’s assertion that Justin, while thinking that the cross was made by Moses, trusted too much to his own memory, and did not consult the context of Moses, this rests on no foundation at all. The very words of Scripture: "Moses made a bronze serpent and set it upon a sign" (Num. xxi, 9), led Justin to this opinion. For by the name of "sign" he understood the cross, as did many others. In the testimony of Ezra, which Justin complains was excised by the Jews (*Dialog*. n. 72), the cross is called a "sign," as is evident from these words of the Jews: *Melloturoi humiliaturi eum in signo* ("We are about to humble him in a sign"). St. Barnabas seems to look to this passage when he says, ch. 12: "And again Moses makes a figure of Jesus (that He who was about to suffer and was about to offer life, was the one whom they would think to have perished on the sign) while Israel was falling." Cotelerius reads erroneously *en semeio piptontos tou Israel*, and thus translates: "In the sign of the falling Israel." St. Clement (*Strom*. vi, p. 656) calls the cross a "sign." And in *Strom*. vii, p. 747: "To carry the sign is to carry about death, while still living, having renounced all things." In the same place he reports the words of Christ in Luke xiv, 17: See the book *Quis dives salvetur*, n. vii, and in *Excerpt. Theodet*. col. [original-script column: see facsimile]. "Jesus, carrying the chosen seeds upon His shoulders through the sign, brings them into the pleroma." A little later the word is used in the same sense. There is therefore no reason to wonder that Justin considered the "sign" to be the same as the cross. See *Dialog*. n. 94.
(66) In the holy tabernacle. These words are to be carefully observed, as they are necessary for understanding the opinion of Justin. For he thinks the tabernacle is a certain likeness of the world, as we have observed in *Cohort*. n. 29. And since he did not doubt that the serpent was placed upon the cross, and the cross upon the tabernacle, he thought that the species of that cross, which Plato announces to have been used in the creation of the world, arose from thence. Scripture did not say that the serpent was placed upon the tabernacle itself, but that seemed probable to Justin.
(67) If you look upon. Grabius observes that these words, but not the sense, are found in num. 21, 9, and that Moses is brought in, speaking similar things, by St. Barnabas in ch. 12. So also Irenaeus, lib. iv, c. 2: "For the law did not forbid them to believe in the Son of God, but even exhorted them, saying that men could not otherwise be saved from the ancient plague of the serpent, unless they believe in Him who, according to
A the sign of the cross, was exalted from the earth and draws all things to Himself and gives life to the dead. Having read this, Plato, not perceiving it accurately and not understanding that it was a figure of the cross, but thinking it was a decussation, said that the power next to the first God was decussated in the universe. And that which he calls third, arose from the fact that he read, as we said above, that the Spirit of God was spoken of by Moses as being borne over the waters. For he gives the second place to the Word of God, which he said was decussated in the universe, and assigns the third to the Spirit, who is said to be borne over the B waters, in these words: “And the third concerns the third.” And hear how the prophetic Spirit foretold through Moses that there would be a conflagration; for He spoke thus: “Ever-living fire shall descend and shall consume even to the abyss below.” We do not, therefore, hold the same opinions as others, but all imitate and speak our things. Among us it is possible to hear and learn these things from those who do not even know the shapes of the letters, being unlearned and barbaric in speech, but wise and believing in mind, and some even are crippled and deprived of sight; so that it is manifest that these things are done not by human wisdom, but are spoken by the power of God.
61. How we dedicate ourselves to God after being made new through Christ.
61. But we will also explain how we dedicated ourselves to God, having been made new through Christ; lest, by omitting this, we seem to act unfairly in our explanation. As many as are persuaded and believe that these things taught and said by us are true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are taught to pray and to ask fasting C from God for the forgiveness of their former sins, while we pray and fast with them. Then they are led by us to where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner of regeneration as we ourselves were regenerated. For in the name of the Father of all and Lord God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing in water. For Christ said: “Unless you are regenerated, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Now it is clear to all that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs. And it was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, as we wrote above, in what way those who have sinned and repent D shall escape their sins. And it was said thus: “Wash yourselves, become clean; remove the wicked deeds from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow: and come, and let us reason together, says the Lord.”
And if your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as wool; and if they be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow. But if you will not hearken to me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. A And we have learned from the apostles a reason for this. Since we were ignorant of our first birth, and were begotten by necessity through the moist seed by the union of our parents with each other, and were brought up in evil habits and wicked customs; in order that we should not remain children of necessity and of ignorance, but of choice and knowledge, and that we might obtain in the water the remission of the sins which we have previously committed, the name of the Father of all and Lord God is pronounced over him who chooses to be reborn and has repented of his sins; those who bring the one to be washed to the laver only pronounce this over him. For no one can articulate the name of the ineffable God; and if any one should dare to say that a name exists for Him, he suffers from a hopeless madness. But this washing is called illumination, because those who learn these things are enlightened in their understanding. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets preached beforehand all things concerning Jesus, he who is enlightened is washed.
62. And the demons, having heard that this washing had been announced by the prophet, B instigated those who enter their temples, and who intend to approach them to offer libations and burnt offerings, to sprinkle themselves with water; and they also cause them to wash themselves entirely before they come to the temples where they are ensconced. For the demons, having learned the command given to Moses by the aforementioned prophet concerning the stripping off of shoes when entering the temples, imitated this in their own worshipers. For at that time, when Moses was ordered to go down to Egypt to lead out the people of the Israelites who were dwelling there, while he was tending the sheep of his maternal uncle in the Arabian land, our Christ appeared to him in the form of fire from a bush, and said: "Take off your shoes, and come near and hear." And he, having taken them off, C and
A having heard, he was told to go down into Egypt, and to bring the people of the Israelites out from there; and he received great power from Christ, who had spoken to him in the form of fire. And having gone down, he led the people out, having performed great and marvelous things; and if you wish to learn these, you will learn them precisely from the records of that man.
63. But even now the Jews teach that it was the nameless God who spoke to Moses; whence the prophetic Spirit, through the aforementioned prophet Isaiah, rebuking them as we wrote before, said: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people did not understand me." And Jesus Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father is and what the Son is, similarly rebuking them, himself also said: "No one knew B the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son shall reveal him." The Word of God is his Son, as we have said before; and he is also called angel and apostle. For he himself announces C whatever it is necessary to know, and is sent to declare whatever is announced, just as our Lord himself said: "He who hears me, hears him who sent me." And this will become clear from the writings of Moses. For it is said in them thus: "And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from the bush, and said: ‘I am the Existing One, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt, and lead out my people.’" You are able to learn what follows from those books if you wish; for it is not possible to write everything here. But these words have been put forth as proof that Jesus is the Christ, being the Son of God and his apostle, who, being before the Word, and sometimes having appeared in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of incorporeal things; D but now, having become man by the will of God for the sake of the human race, he endured to suffer whatever the demons stirred up the senseless Jews to inflict upon him. They, having expressly stated in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from the bush, and said," [even now] continue as if it were of an incorporeal image.
A Hence also the prophetic Spirit, rebuking them, said: "Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me." And again Jesus, as we have shown, when He was among them, said: "No one has known the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son shall reveal him." The Jews, therefore, always assuming that it was the Father of all who had spoken to Moses, while the One who spoke to him was the Son of God, who also is called Angel and Apostle, are rightly refuted both by the prophetic Spirit and by Christ Himself, as having known neither the Father nor the Son. For those who claim that the Son is the Father are refuted because they know neither the Father nor recognize that the Son is [known] to the Father of all; seeing that He, being the first-begotten Word of God, is also God. B And before, indeed, in the form and incorporeal image of fire, He appeared to Moses and the other prophets; but now, in the times of your empire, as we have said before, having become man through a virgin according to the will of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe in Him, He endured both to be despised and to suffer, that by dying and rising again He might conquer death. But what was said from the bush to Moses, "I am He who is, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of thy fathers," is an indication that they even remain after death, and are men of Christ Himself. For they were the first of all men to be occupied with the search for God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also recorded.
64. C That the demons, in having an image of the so-called Maiden [Kore/Persephone] set up at the springs of water, did this also through the craft of demons—who said she was the daughter of Zeus, having imitated what was said through Moses—you may perceive from what we have already said. For Moses, as we wrote before, says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and the Spirit of God was borne above the waters." In imitation, therefore, of what was said about the Spirit of God being borne above the water, they called the Maiden [Kore] the daughter of Zeus. And in like manner, acting wickedly, they said that Athena was the daughter of Zeus, not from sexual union; but because, when they learned D that God created the world by thinking and considering through the Word, they called the first thought "Athena." Which we consider most ridiculous: to bring forward a female form to represent an image of a thought. And in like manner the others...
A similarly, the actions of those who are called sons of Zeus refute them.
65. But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has given his assent, bring him to those who are called brothers, where they are gathered, to offer common prayers with great earnestness, both for ourselves and for him who has been illuminated, and for all others everywhere, that we may be accounted worthy, having learned the truth, to be found observers of the commandments in our deeds and good citizens, so that we may attain eternal salvation. We greet one another with a kiss B when we have ceased our prayers. Then is brought to the president of the brothers bread, and a cup of water and of mixed wine; and he, having taken them, sends up praise and glory to the Father of all through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and performs at length the eucharist, or thanksgiving, for our being accounted worthy of these gifts from Him. When he has concluded the prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present express their assent by saying, Amen. Now "amen," in the Hebrew language, signifies "so be it." When the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present a portion of the eucharistized bread and wine and water, and they carry it away to those who are not present.
66. And this food is called by us eucharistia, of which it is not lawful for any man to partake but for him who believes our teachings to be true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins and unto regeneration, and who so lives as Christ has delivered. For we do not receive these as common bread or common drink; C but in the same manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh through the word of God, both had flesh and blood for our salvation, so too we have been taught that the food which has been eucharistized through the prayer of the word which is from Him, from which our blood and flesh are fed by transformation, is both the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.
For the apostles, in the A memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, A have thus delivered that it was commanded to them: Jesus took bread, and having given thanks, said, "Do this in remembrance of me; [*] this is my body." And in like manner he took the cup, and having given thanks, said, "This is my blood," and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked demons have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For you know, or can learn, that bread and a cup of water are set in the rites of one who is being initiated, with certain formularies.
67. We, however, after these things, continually remind one another of them; and those who have the means aid all who are in need, and we are always together. And in all the offerings which we make, we bless the Creator of all things through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday, there is an assembly B of all who live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally imparts instruction and exhortation for the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and send up prayers; and, as we have already said, when we have ceased from prayer, bread is offered and wine and water; and the president likewise sends up prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people acclaim, saying, "Amen." And C there is a distribution and participation of the eucharistic elements to each, and to those who are absent it is sent by the deacons. Those who are prosperous and willing contribute, each according to his own preference, what he chooses; and what is collected is deposited with the president, and he provides aid to orphans and widows, and to those who, through sickness or any other cause, are suffering want, and to those who are in bonds, and to those who are pilgrims from abroad, and in a word, he becomes a caregiver to all who are in need. We all hold this common meeting on the day of the sun, D because it is the first day on which God, having transformed the darkness and matter, created the world, and because Jesus Christ our Savior rose on the same day from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn; and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun...
having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted also for your consideration.
68. A And if these things seem to you agreeable to reason and truth, pay them respect; but if they seem to you trifling, treat them as you would trifling matters, and do not decree death against those who have done no wrong, as you would against enemies. For we warn you that you will not escape the coming judgment of God, if you persist in injustice; and we shall shout aloud: “What is pleasing to God, let this come to pass.” B And while we could demand of you, from the letter of the greatest and most illustrious Caesar, Hadrian, your father, that you order the trials to be held as we have requested, yet we have made this appeal and explanation not because it was ordered by Hadrian, but because we know we are requesting justice. We have also attached a copy of the letter of Hadrian, so that you may know that we are speaking the truth in this also; and this is that copy:
Hadrian’s Letter for the Christians
69. C Minucius Fundanus. I have received the letter written to me by Serenius Granianus, a most excellent man, whom you have succeeded. It does not seem right to me, therefore, that the matter should be left unexamined, so that men may not be harassed, and the informers be provided with the opportunity to do evil. If, therefore, the provincials can clearly make their appeal against the Christians so as to answer before the tribunal, let them turn to this course alone, and not by petitions or mere outcries. For it is much more fitting, if anyone wishes to accuse them, D that you should investigate the matters.
A If anyone, therefore, accuses them and shows that they are acting in any way contrary to the laws, decide the case according to the magnitude of the offense. But, by Hercules, if anyone should bring forward an accusation for the sake of calumny, examine the wickedness of the matter and take care to punish it.
Antoninus' Epistle to the Common Assembly of Asia
B [70.] Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Pontifex Maximus, in the fifteenth year of his tribunician power, thrice consul, father of his country, to the Common Assembly of Asia, greetings. I thought indeed that the gods would take care that such persons should not escape notice. For if they were able, they would much rather punish those who do not wish to worship them than you. You cause them trouble, and you accuse their opinion, as if they were atheists, and you bring against them other things which we are C unable to prove. But it would be advantageous to them, for the sake of Him whom they are accused of serving, to appear to perish at the accusation; and they vanquish you, by surrendering their own souls rather than yield to the things which you demand that they do. As for the earthquakes which have occurred and are still occurring, it is not fitting that you should admonish them, you who become despondent when they happen, if you compare your conduct with theirs. For they are more confident in relation to God D than you are. And you, indeed, through
A that period seem to be ignorant of the gods, and you neglect the sacred rites, and you do not understand the worship regarding God. Whence you have even envied those who worship [Him], and you persecute [them] even unto death. Regarding such matters, certain others also of the governors of the provinces wrote to my most divine father; to whom he also wrote back that no trouble should be caused to such people, unless they should be found attempting anything against the Roman government. And to me, too, many have reported concerning such people, to whom I also have replied, following the opinion of my father. But if anyone has a matter to bring against any of such people as being such, let that person who is accused be acquitted of the charge, even if he should appear to be such a one; but that accuser shall be liable to the judgment. B
Letter of the Emperor Marcus to the Senate, in which he testifies that the Christians were the cause of their victory.
71. Emperor Caesar M. Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the Roman people and the holy senate, greeting. I have made known to you the greatness of my purpose, and what outcomes I brought about near the border of Germany, having labored and suffered through the encirclement due to the emergency in which I had been hemmed in by the enemies, when I was being caught by seventy-four dragons, nine thousand...
A nine hundred and seventy-seven, by an immense and orderly multitude of a mixed crowd. Having examined myself and my own forces in relation to the magnitude of the barbarians and the enemy, I betook myself to pray to the ancestral gods. Being neglected by them, and having observed the straits to which my forces were reduced, I called those who are named Christians among us; and upon questioning them, I discovered both a multitude and their vast numbers, and I was indignant toward them, which I ought not to have been, because I later recognized their power. Since they began, not with the preparation of missiles, nor with arms, nor with trumpets (for such things are hateful to them on account of the God whom they carry in their conscience) B—it is likely, therefore, that those whom we assume to be atheists have God [standing] within them. C D
for when they cast themselves upon the ground, they prayed not for me alone, but also for the standing army, that they might be consoled B regarding the thirst and famine then present. For we had not received water for five days because it was not to be found; for we were in the heart of Germany, and in their borders. But as soon as they cast themselves upon the ground and prayed to God, whom I did not know, immediately water followed from heaven—most cooling upon us, but upon the Roman enemies C, a fiery hail. And straightway the presence of God manifested itself in the prayer, as one insuperable and indissoluble. Starting then from this point, let us permit such people to be Christians, lest they invoke such a weapon against us and obtain it. I further advise that no one be harassed because he is a Christian. But if any one be found accusing a Christian because he is a Christian, I wish that the Christian who is brought forward be made manifest, D having confessed this, and being accused of nothing else save that he is a Christian; but let the man who brings him forward be burned alive. But as for him who has confessed and substantiated that he is a Christian, and has secured himself regarding such a matter, I do not wish for the one entrusted with the administration of the province to transfer such a one to repentance or into unfreedom. I wish also for these things to be confirmed by a decree of the Senate, and I order my edict to be posted in the Forum of Trajan, so that it may be possible to read it. The prefect Verasius Pollio will take care to see it sent to the surrounding provinces; and let no one who wishes to avail himself of it and to have a copy be prevented from obtaining it from what has been set forth by us.
ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND APOLOGY
Since Justin remembered that the desired outcomes of his first Apology had been granted by God, he wished to devote the same effort to the Church during the persecution of M. Aurelius. He knew indeed that plans for his own destruction had been initiated by the philosophers, but he deemed that in the common danger his own [life] was to be neglected; and he audaciously threw himself into the midst of the danger for the sake of his brethren. His purpose was to demonstrate that Christians are not killed for any other reason than that they teach the truth and cultivate virtue.
Justin therefore declares in the very beginning (n. 1) that wicked men and demons join efforts to kill Christians; and he offers a manifest argument for this (n. 2) from the history of three martyrs who had suffered a few days before. He testifies that he himself is also expecting to be called into judgment by Crescens, whom he marks as wicked, despising his threats, and unlearned. But lest anyone should say to Christians, "Why do you not yourselves seek death so as to depart to God?" Justin renders the reason (n. 4) for why they do nothing of the sort, yet do not deny it when questioned.
There was another thing which the heathens were accustomed to object, namely, that God, if he were the helper of the Christians, would not allow them to be killed by the wicked. Justin explains this also (n. 5) in such a way that he defends the justice of God and the innocence of the Christians. He proves the justice of God thus (n. 6): God had entrusted the care of men to angels. But these, having fallen into the vices of crimes and every kind of wickedness, scattered them upon the human race. To the evils flowing from their wickedness, God opposed a most powerful remedy, the incarnation of the Word; which Justin proves with an argument (n. 7) both regarding the matter at hand, and regarding the whole of religion.
most worthy to be defended, namely by the authority and command of Christians over the demons, whom they expel from the bodies of men everywhere in the world by the name of Jesus. The justice of God in punishing demons will one day shine forth; but since the benefits of Christ's incarnation are so great, it is right that the world should be preserved for the sake of the Christians (n. 8). Wherefore God does not yet exact punishment from the demons, the authors of so many evils; but they shall be cast into eternal fire when the conflagration takes place, which however will not happen because of fate, for fate allows no place for either liberty or virtue. He proves that the virtue and innocence of Christians are commended by the very persecutions themselves (n. 9). 1° If the works of demons have always been mocked by those who have attained some spark of truth (n. 10), how much greater must be the hatred of the demons toward Christians, who embrace the whole truth and the whole incarnate Word, and by expelling the demons, denounce against them the eternal punishments which truly (n. 11) cannot be denied, unless God or providence be denied. Not only for this are Christians hated by the demons (n. 12), that they have known the truth, of which merely sparks had shone before the eyes of the philosophers, and the whole Word, but also in this, that Christ by His own power has brought it about that even unlearned men and workmen should despise glory and fear and death. 2. The constancy of Christians in persecutions declares (n. 13) that they pursue true and eternal goods and have attained a solid and manifest image of virtue. 3° Nothing is more suitable than persecutions for repelling the suspicion of crimes (n. 14). For how would Christians so willingly embrace death, if they lived as the heathens claimed they lived? Justin perceived their innocence from this strength of spirit, and passed from the doctrine of Plato to the far more excellent Christian one (n. 15). Finally (n. 16) he asks the emperors to approve this booklet with their authority.
OF THE SAME JUSTIN APOLOGY II IN BEHALF OF CHRISTIANS TO THE ROMAN SENATE.
OF THE SAME JUSTIN APOLOGY II IN BEHALF OF CHRISTIANS TO THE ROMAN SENATE.
A 1. Even the events that took place in your city, Romans, only yesterday and the day before under Urbicus, and those which in like manner are being done everywhere by governors without reason, have compelled me, for your sake—since you are of the same nature as we are, and even if you are ignorant of it and unwilling because of the splendor of your supposed dignities, you are our brothers—to compose this discourse. For everywhere, except among those who are persuaded that the wicked and profligate will be punished in eternal fire, but that the virtuous and those who have lived like Christ will dwell in a state of freedom from suffering with God (we mean those who have become Christians),—except for these, I say, if anyone is punished by a father, or a neighbor, or a son, or a friend, or a brother, or a husband, or a wife for some failure, B they are enemies to us and to all our friends.
A And if evil demons, who are hostile to us, also have such judges under their control and serving them, they then incite them, as magistrates possessed by demons, to put us to death. But that the cause of everything that happened under Urbicus may become clear to you, I shall recount what was done.
2. The Story of the Woman and her Husband
2. A certain woman lived with a husband who was intemperate, and she herself had been so before. But when she learned the teachings of Christ, she became sober-minded, and she tried to persuade her husband likewise to be sober-minded, explaining the teachings to him and announcing the punishment in eternal fire that awaits those who live intemperately and without right reason. But he, persevering in the same acts of lewdness, alienated his wife’s heart through his conduct. For the woman, considering it impious thenceforth to be bedfellows with a husband who, contrary to the law of nature and right, sought pleasure in every way possible, desired to be separated from the marriage. And since she was importuned by her own people, who advised her to remain, saying that perhaps the husband might yet show some hope of change, she forced herself to stay. But when her husband traveled to Alexandria and was reported to be doing even worse things, so as not to become a partner in his injustices and impieties by remaining in the marriage and becoming a participant in his meals and his bed, she gave what you call a divorce B and separated from him.
But this noble and good husband of hers—when he ought to have rejoiced that she, who formerly used to carry on licentiously with servants and hirelings, getting drunk and giving herself over to every kind of wickedness, had now ceased these actions and wished him also to cease doing the same things—since he was unwilling, she departed and he brought an accusation against her, saying that she was a Christian. C
And she presented a petition to you, the Emperor, requesting A that she be permitted first to manage her own affairs; after that, to defend herself regarding the accusation following the settlement of her affairs. And you granted this. But her former husband, being unable to speak against her any further, turned his assault—in this manner—to a certain Ptolemy, whom Urbicus B punished, who had become her teacher in Christian instruction. He persuaded a certain centurion, who was his friend, to arrest Ptolemy, and to seize him and to ask him this alone, whether he was a Christian. And the centurion caused Ptolemy, who was a lover of truth and not a man of deceitful or false character, after he had confessed himself to be a Christian, to be put in bonds; and for a long time he was afflicted in the prison. Finally, when the man came before Urbicus, C he was examined in the same way, as to this alone: whether he were a Christian. And again, being conscious of the good things in himself because of the teaching from Christ, he confessed the school of divine virtue. For he who denies anything D either does so because he condemns the thing itself, or because he knows himself to be unworthy and alien to the matter, and thus avoids the confession; and neither of these is present in a true Christian. And when Urbicus gave the order for him to be led off to punishment, a certain Lucius, who was himself also a Christian, seeing a judgment so unreasonably rendered, said to Urbicus: “What is the cause? Why have you punished this person, who has been convicted of neither adultery nor fornication, nor of being a murderer, nor a thief, nor a robber, nor of having committed any crime at all, but who only confesses the name of Christian?”
A
“Are you judging not by the pious emperor, nor by the emperor’s son, nor by the sacred senate, O Urbicus?” He, answering nothing else, said to Lucius: “You, also, seem to me to be such a one.” And when Lucius said, “Most certainly,” he ordered him also to be led away. He, however, confessed that he gave thanks, knowing that he was being delivered from such wicked masters, and was going to the Father and King of the heavens. A third, also, came up and was sentenced to be punished. B
3. I, too, expect to be waylaid by some one of those named, and to be fixed to the stake, or at least by that Crescens, who is a lover of noise and vain-glory; for it is not fitting to call him a philosopher, a man who publicly testifies against us C of things he does not understand.
For if he attacks us without having read the teachings of Christ, he is thoroughly wicked, and much worse than the A uneducated, who often take care not to speak or bear false witness about things they do not understand. Or if he has read them and did not understand their majesty, or, having understood, does things to avoid being suspected of being such an one, he is much more base and wicked, being a slave to popular, irrational opinion and fear. For I am anxious for you to know that, when I proposed to him and asked him a few such questions, I learned and proved that he truly knows nothing. And to show you that I speak the truth, if these dialogues have not been reported to you, I am ready to conduct the questioning again in your presence. That would indeed be a task worthy of a king. But if my questions and his answers have been B made known to you, it is clear to you that he knows nothing of our affairs; or if he does know, he does not dare to speak out for fear of his hearers, as I have said before; and thus he is shown not to be a philosopher, but a lover of glory, seeing that he does not respect that notable Socratic saying: "But a man must not be honored in preference to the truth." But it is impossible for a Cynic, who proposes indifference as his end, to know any good other than indifference.
4. C But that no one may say, "Depart now to God, and kill yourselves, if you wish to die!": D
": I shall state the reason why we do not do this, and why we confess [our faith] fearlessly when interrogated. We have been taught that God did not make the world without purpose, but for the sake of the human race; and we have already stated A that He finds pleasure in those who imitate the attributes that are His own, and is displeased with those who choose what is base in either word or deed. If, therefore, we were all to kill ourselves, we would become the cause, so far as it lies with us, that no one is born, or instructed in the divine teachings, or even that the human race does not exist—thereby acting against the will of God, if we were to do this. When examined, however, we do not deny [our faith], both because we are conscious of no evil, and because we hold it to be impious not to speak the truth in all things—which we know is pleasing to God; and we are now zealous to free you from an unjust prejudice. B
5. But if any thought should occur to you, that if we profess that God is our helper, we would not, as we contend, be overcome by the unjust and afflicted with punishments, I shall resolve this objection too. God, having created the whole world, and having subjected the things of earth to men, and having adorned the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and for the changes of the seasons, and having ordained this divine law—things which it is evident He appears to have made for the sake of men—entrusted the care of men and of the things under heaven to the angels whom He had set over this task. The angels, however, having C transgressed this order, succumbed to unions with women, and begat children, who are those called demons; and furthermore, they thereafter subdued the human race to themselves—partly by means of magical writings, partly by inflicting fears and punishments, and partly by teaching the use of sacrifices, incense, and drink-offerings, which they came to crave once they were enslaved by the passions of their desires; and they sowed among men murders, wars, adulteries, intemperance, and every type of wickedness. Hence, poets and writers of myths, not knowing that it was the angels and the demons begotten by them who had perpetrated upon males and females, and upon cities and nations, what they recorded in their writings, attributed these deeds to God Himself, and to those whom they supposed to be His own offspring, and D to the brothers of those mentioned, and to the children in like manner of...
A those—Neptune and Pluto—and to those born of them, and this they transferred to them. For whatever name each of the angels had imposed upon himself and his children, by that name they called them.
6. But for the Parent of all, who is unbegotten, there is no name at all. For if one were to be called by a name, he would have as his elder the one who imposed the name. But "Father," and "God," and "Creator," and "Lord," and "Master," are not names, but appellations derived from benefits and works. But His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who existed before the works, and is both with Him and begotten, B when in the beginning He created and ordered all things through Him—this One, I say, because He was anointed, and because God ordered all things through Him, is called Christ; which name also contains in itself an unknown meaning—in the same way as the appellation of "God" is not a name, but an opinion of an inexpressible reality innate in the nature of men. And "Jesus" also has both a man’s name and a meaning. For He both became man, as we have said before, having been born according to the will of God the Father for the sake of believing men, and for the destruction of the demons. And now from the things occurring before your eyes you can learn. For many C who were possessed by demons throughout the whole world, and in your own city, many of our people, the Christians, adjuring them by the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed them, and still do heal them, after they had not been healed by all the other adjurators and incantators and sorcerers.
7. B Wherefore God also maintains the confusion and dissolution of the whole world not to take place, so that evil angels, and demons, and men may no longer exist, because of the seed of the Christians, which He knows is the cause in nature. For if this were not so, it would not be possible for you still to do these things and to be acted upon by wicked demons, but the fire of judgment having descended, would indiscriminately dissolve all things, just as the flood formerly left no one B except the one, along with his own, called among us Noah, and among you Deucalion, from whom again such a multitude of men have come, of whom some are wicked, and some are good. For thus we say that the conflagration will come to pass, but not as the Stoics, according to the doctrine of the mutual transformation of all things into one another; which seems most base. Nor do we say that men act or suffer what happens by fate, but that each one acts well or sins by free choice; and that because of the operation of the wicked demons, the good—such as Socrates and those like him—are persecuted and kept in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and others of that kind appear to be blessed in the abundance and splendor of all things. Not understanding this, the Stoics have declared that all things happen by the necessity of fate. But because God from the beginning created the race of angels and men as possessing free will, they will justly deserve punishment in eternal fire for whatever C they may do wrong. For this is the nature of every creature created, to be capable of virtue and vice. For it would not be praiseworthy if it did not have the faculty to turn in either direction. And those who everywhere have legislated according to right reason and have philosophized show this, by prescribing that this should be done, and that should be avoided. The Stoic philosophers, in their discourse on ethics, confirm the same thing consistently; so that it is easily seen that they do not follow the right path in discussing principles and incorporeal things. For whether they say that things happening to men come to pass by fate, or that there is no God who turns— D that God is, and then after Him we have been created by Him altogether similar to God; and all things have been subjected to us, earth, and water, and air, and stars, and all things for our sake, and as ordered to serve us.
A And if they are things that change and are resolved back into the same things always, they will appear to have attained a grasp only of things that are corruptible, and to make God Himself, through his parts and through the whole, become immersed in every wickedness; or else that there is no wickedness, nor virtue; which is contrary to every sound conception, and reason, and mind.
8. For although the Stoics, in their moral teaching, have fared well—as is sometimes the case with the poets, owing to the seed of the Word implanted in the whole race of mankind—we know that those who have proceeded from this discipline have been hated and put to death. We know this of Heraclitus, as we said before, and of Musonius in our own times, and others. For, as we have indicated, the demons have always effectively brought it about that all who strive to live in any way according to reason and to flee wickedness are always hated. B And it is no wonder if the demons, when they are refuted, act so as to cause those who strive to live not according to a part of the disseminated reason, but according to the knowledge and contemplation of the whole Word, which is Christ, to be hated much more; they who shall receive their due punishment and torment, having been shut up in eternal fire. For if they are already being overcome by men through the name of Jesus Christ, it is a teaching of the punishment which hereafter awaits both them and those who worship them in eternal fire. For this is what all the prophets foretold would come to pass, and Jesus our teacher taught.
C True truth is shown to be among us alone; for the Person of the truth that is revealed is the Son of God, while the reality is the power of the faith, which also prevails over everything that opposes it, and the whole world itself that stands against it.
A But for fear that some person might say—as those who are called philosophers do—that the things we claim are empty threats and bugbears, and that we say that the unjust are punished in eternal fire because we wish men to live virtuously for fear, and not because it is good and agreeable; I shall answer briefly to this: if this is not so, then either there is no God, or if there is, he has no concern for men, and there is no such thing as virtue or wickedness, and as we said before, the lawgivers act unjustly when they punish those who transgress the good things that have been prescribed. But since those lawgivers are not unjust, and their own Father [(11)] teaches [the lawgivers] to do the same things by the Word, those who agree with them are not unjust [(12)].
But if someone should bring forward the different laws of men, saying that among some peoples these things are considered good and those base, while among others the things base to the former are considered good, and the good base; let him hear what we also say concerning this. We know that the wicked angels ordained laws similar to their own wickedness, in which men who have become like them take pleasure. But correct reason, coming into being [(13)], does not demonstrate that all opinions and all doctrines are good, but rather that some are base and some are good; so that the same things and similar things will be said by me to such people, and will be said at greater length, if there be need. For the present, however, I return to my proposed subject.
B 10. Our doctrine appears more sublime than any human teaching, because the whole of Christ, who appeared for us—namely, body, and Word, and soul—has become manifest for our sake [(14)]. For whatever things philosophers or lawgivers at any time spoke or discovered well, they elaborated through the discovery and contemplation of a part of the Word. Because they did not know everything that pertains to the Word—which Christ is—they often spoke things that were contradictory to themselves. C And those who, before Christ, attempted to investigate and test things by human [(15)] reason according to the human nature [(16)] of Christ—as if they were impious and meddlesome—were brought into the courts. Socrates, who was the most vigorous of them all in this regard, was accused of the same crimes as we are. For they said that he introduced new [(17)] daimonia, and that he did not regard those whom the city considered gods as gods. But he indeed drove out the wicked daimonia [(18)] and [(19)] the…
A those who did as the poets said, and taught men to abandon Homer and the other poets; and he urged them to attain knowledge of God, who was unknown to them, through a process of reasoning, saying: "But it is not easy to find the Father and Maker of all, nor, having found him, is it safe to declare him to everyone." This our Christ did through His own power. For no one was ever so convinced by Socrates as to die for this doctrine; but for Christ, who was known in part by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in all, and who foretold what was to come through the prophets, and who became like us and taught us these things), not only philosophers and scholars believed, B but also craftsmen and people altogether uneducated, and they despised glory, and fear, and death; since this is the power of the ineffable Father, and not the instrument of human reason.
11. Neither would the wicked men and daimonia be able to slay us, if it were not appointed for every man that is born to die. Wherefore, in paying the debt, we give thanks. But now, it seems to us a fine and opportune thing to mention to Crescens and to those who like him are acting insanely, that account of Xenophon. For Xenophon wrote that Hercules, while walking in a certain place where three roads met, found Virtue and Vice, appearing to him in the form of women; and Vice, C indeed, in a soft garment, and with an alluring and flourishing appearance from such artifices—she was immediately attractive to the eyes—said to Hercules that, if he would follow her, she would cause him to live always in pleasure and adorned with the most brilliant and similar finery that she wore; and Virtue, in a squalid face and garment, said: "But if you obey me, you will not adorn yourself with fleeting and perishing finery and decoration, but with eternal and beautiful ornaments." And we are persuaded that anyone who flees what seem to be good things, and pursues what are deemed hard and unreasonable, will attain the blessed life. D For Vice, through the imitation of corruptible things, clothes herself with those qualities that belong to Virtue and are truly good (for she has nothing incorruptible, nor can she create it), and she enslaves the humble…
among men, things that are hers. Those, however, who have understood what is truly good and incorruptible by virtue—both regarding Christians and regarding those coming from the struggle of men, and those who have done such things as the poets related concerning the gods who are supposed to exist—ought to perceive that everything has B a reason, which also 28 compels us to despise the death that is to be avoided.
12. For I myself, when I was delighted by the teachings of Plato and heard the Christians being accused, yet saw them fearless 29 in the face of death and all the other things that are considered terrifying, understood that it was impossible that they should be living in wickedness and love of pleasure. For who that is a lover of pleasure or incontinent, and considers the eating of human flesh to be a good thing, could be able to embrace death 30 so as to be deprived of his own goods? Rather, would he not try to live his life here in every way possible, and to remain hidden from the rulers, not to mention that he himself would inform 31 that he would be executed?
Indeed, the evil demons have now brought it about that this is done through certain wicked men. For they themselves, by killing some on account of the false accusations against us, dragged our servants, or children, or wives into tortures, and by horrible torments forced them to speak of those mythical crimes which they themselves openly perpetrate. Since none of these things apply to us, we do not care, having C God, the unbegotten and ineffable, as witness of our thoughts and actions. For what reason should we not also publicly acknowledge these things as good, and demonstrate them to be a divine philosophy, saying that we celebrate the mysteries of Saturn [C, 32] in murdering men and in filling ourselves with blood, as it is said, things equal to the idol honored among you 33, to which not only
the blood of irrational animals is sprinkled, but that of human beings as well; for the most illustrious and noble man among you performs the libation of his blood from those who have been slaughtered. And since they are imitators of Jupiter and the other gods in their being able to consort shamelessly with men and women, they bring forward the writings of Epicurus and the poets as a defense. B But since we persuade men to flee from these teachings, and from those who practice and imitate them, as we have also struggled to do now through these words, we are attacked in various ways. But we do not care, since we know that God is the just overseer of all things. And if even now someone were standing by, he would cry out with a tragic voice, having ascended some high platform: "Be ashamed, be ashamed for publicly attributing to innocent people the things that reflect your own character and that of your gods, things in which they have no part, not even in the smallest degree. Change your ways; come to your senses."
13. For as for me, having learned that a base covering C had been cast over the divine teachings of the Christians by evil demons to deter other men, and that these things were being lied about, I both laughed at the covering and at the opinion held by the many, and I confess that I pray and battle with all my strength to be found a Christian: not because the teachings of Plato are alien to Christ, but because they are not altogether the same, just as are not those of others, such as the Stoics, and the poets, and the historians. For each one, seeing some part of the divine Word [sπερματικοῦ θεοῦ λόγου] that is akin [to him], spoke well. But those who have said things contradictory to these in more important matters clearly do not possess the non-refutable knowledge D nor sure understanding. Therefore, whatever has been well spoken by all men belongs to us Christians. For we worship the Word, who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, after God
who became man for our sake, that becoming a partaker of our sufferings he might also provide a remedy. For all writers, through the seed of the Word implanted in them, were able to see the truth dimly. For it is one thing to possess a seed and likeness of something given according to capacity, and another thing to be that very thing, of which the participation and likeness occur according to his grace A.
14. We entreat you, therefore, through this petition, that you—giving your approval to what we suggest—may promulgate this little book, so that our teachings may become known to others, and they may be able to be freed from false opinion and ignorance of good things, since they are liable to punishment through their own fault. For it is given for men to know what is good and what is disgraceful; and because they condemn us—whom they do not know—on charges of the base crimes they keep mentioning, while yet delighting in gods who have perpetrated such things and even now demand the like from men, they pass judgment upon themselves, since they act like those who do such things, by inflicting death or chains or some other such penalty upon us, so that there is no need for other judges.
15. I have also despised that impious and error-filled doctrine of Simon among my own people, the Samaritans B. But if you would give this your authority, we would make it clear to all, so that they might be able to change. This alone was the purpose for which we drew up this appeal. Our teachings are not, to a sound judgment, disgraceful, but are more sublime than all human philosophy. But if not, we are compared even to Sotadean C and Philaenidean D writings.
Scripture Testimonies and Observations
Scripture testimonies in which He is called God-with-us, etc. ... whatever I have discussed in the Preface, Part II, Ch. 7, no. 6, concerning the doctrine of Justin. He sets this distinction between the Gentiles and the Christians. The most excellent of the Gentiles, such as Socrates and Heraclitus, knew a particle of the truth, the Word illuminating their minds, and imitated it through some semblance of virtue. And that was indeed granted to them by God, before the strength of their free will was healed. But Christians not only know the incarnate Word, but it was also communicated to them, by inhabiting them through the Holy Spirit and imprinting His own image in them, which is indeed a completely gratuitous gift of God.
Regarding the phrase "Nimis sua ipsorum culpa" (too much by their own fault): these words, although poorly understood, have filled the whole passage with darkness. Clericus himself translated, as others did, "apart from their own fault," and refers this to the Christians, translating: "So that our affairs may be known to others, and they may be able to be freed from false opinion, and to know the good men (the Christians) who are subject to punishments apart from their own fault." Thirlby thinks it should be rendered, "by your own fault." Perionius alone says, "their own fault." It could be proven by several examples that the word "per" (by/through) is used in these places. Irenaeus in the Prologue says: "So that, therefore, they might not be snatched away through our own fault." Those, therefore, who departed from the paternal light and transgressed the law of liberty, departed through their own fault, having become free and masters of their own choice.
Moreover, the phrase "In the nature of men" is found. "It is taught, according to the nature, that there is for men a power of knowing good and evil." That phrase, "for the knowledge of these things to men," occurs a little earlier and seems to be placed quite unsuitably in this spot. Wherefore, for the sake of clarity, it ought to have been omitted in translating, or, as I have decided to do, placed more appropriately. As many have already observed.
ANALYSIS OF THE DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO THE JEW
99 Justin was drawn to Ephesus by a desire to propagate the faith, which seems to have been his sole occupation. A few days before he left, as he was walking in the morning in the walks of the xystus (n. 1), a certain Jew named Trypho met him, accompanied by six others of the same sect. He indicated that he was a student of philosophy and, invited by Justin’s attire, sought his acquaintance. When Justin recognized him as a Jew, he expressed surprise that a man addicted to Moses and the prophets should not practice philosophy, and he narrated (n. 2) how he himself, after tasting many philosophies, had become enamored of the Platonists; but later (n. 3-8), having learned the truth from the words of a certain old man, he had embraced the Christian religion. Trypho’s companions laughed (n. 9). Trypho himself deplored Justin’s lot, whereupon Justin promised to demonstrate that the Christian religion rests upon the most certain arguments, though this only led to further laughter and indecorous shouting. Justin sought to leave, but was restrained by Trypho’s cloak, on the condition that his companions either depart or listen in silence. Having accepted this condition, they went into the middle of the stadium of the xystus, where there were stone seats on both sides. Justin and Trypho sat on one side, and four of Trypho’s companions—two having already left in jest—sat on the other. Then Justin began (n. 10) the Dialogue, which, being interrupted by nightfall, was repeated the following day with Trypho and his companions, along with some others who had not been present the day before, and was carried on until evening.
I would not truly wonder if this work lacked, as learned men have thought, elegance of order. For Justin is not the inventor of the Dialogue, but the faithful reporter of those things which had been disputed between him and the Jews. Yet, if anyone probes this disputation in all its vestiges, and compares the middle with the beginning, and the end with the middle, the series of arguments will not escape him. In which regard, in order to consult the convenience of the readers, we shall distribute the Dialogue into three parts: in the first, the holy Martyr refutes the preconceived opinions of the Jews concerning the Law; in the second, he demonstrates that the true and eternal Son was begotten by God, and that he was incarnate and crucified for our sake; in the third, finally, he shows that the calling of the Gentiles and the Church, which was constituted by Christ, were predicted by the oracles of the prophets and the figures of the Old Testament.
PART I.—To Trypho, who asks why Christians do not observe the Law, Justin replies (n. 11). He asserts that the abrogation of the Old Law and the institution of the New had been predicted; and he proves that this had already come to pass from the conversion of the Gentiles who observe this law through the grace of Christ (n. 12), while the Jews utterly disgrace it. 2° The remission of sins is promised in Isaiah through the blood of Christ (n. 13), and not at all through the purifications of the Jews. 3° (n. 15) Righteousness, according to the same prophet, is not placed in external rites, but in the conversion of the heart, which Christ bestows. This is the true circumcision. 4° (n. 16, 17) For the Jewish circumcision was given as a sign, that they might be punished for the crimes committed against Christ and the Christians. 5° (n. 18, 22) This is deservedly rejected by Christians; inasmuch as it was unknown to the ancients, and was given as a sign to Abraham; but the Law under Moses was instituted because of the hardness of heart. 6° (n. 23) The Jewish opinion concerning the Law provides a handle for calumnies against God. 7° (n. 24) The circumcision of Christians is far more excellent, without which (n. 25, 26) the Jews cannot be saved. And if the prophets taught the same things as Moses, they did so because of that same hardness of heart (n. 27). But true righteousness is obtained through Christ (n. 28), and therefore the Law is useless to Christians (n. 29), since they observe the eternal law through the grace of Christ (n. 30). 8° Justin persists in demonstrating this power of Christ (for it was an argument of great weight, in order that it might be evident that the Law had been abrogated, and that the Jews understand themselves to need very different aids), and since the glory of the first advent had been so great, he proves (n. 31) from Daniel a second and much more glorious one to come, and demonstrates from several psalms that he is called Lord and God and is to be adored (n. 32, 39). He denies that these apply to Solomon, since he not only could not sustain these titles, but was also corrupt and very unlike Christians, among whom, however, he confesses (n. 33) that heresies have arisen, but such as confirm the catholics in the faith, inasmuch as they were predicted by Christ. 9° He shows (n. 40, 42) that the Law was a figure of those things which pertain to Christ, and had its end in Christ (n. 43), without whom (n. 44) the Jews promise salvation to themselves in vain. He confesses (n. 45) that the righteous, who were before the law and under the law, were saved, but through Christ, nor does he deny (n. 46, 47) that they will obtain salvation, if any combine the law with faith in Christ, although many catholics think otherwise.
100 PART II.—What Justin had said thus far concerning the divinity of Christ, he had discussed briefly in order to refute the opinions of the Jews concerning the Mosaic Law. Now, at the request of Trypho, he purposely proves that Christ existed as God before the ages and afterward willed to become man. Before he enters into the disputation, he warns Trypho (n. 48) to hold firm and fixed what has already been demonstrated, namely, that Jesus is the Christ, and when the Jew objects that Elijah has not yet come, he proves (n. 49) that John was the precursor of the first advent of Elijah, and confirms this from the prophecy of Isaiah (n. 50, 51); and he shows that two advents had been predicted by Jacob himself (n. 52, 54). Then, at the request of Trypho that he not use those testimonies in proving the divinity of Christ in which the name of God is not used without metaphor, Justin promises (n. 55) that he will not make use of these testimonies; he proves that God, who appeared to Abraham and Jacob and Moses, is distinct from God the Father (n. 56, 57, 58, 59): and he refutes the Jewish opinions concerning him who appeared in the bush (n. 60), and demonstrates that wisdom was begotten of God, as fire from fire (n. 61), from the words of Solomon, by which he shows it is consistent (n. 62) with that saying of Moses: Let us make man, etc. The Jew yields to these arguments and asks Justin to prove that this Son of God was made man and was crucified and rose again and ascended into heaven.
Then Justin brings forward many testimonies (n. 63), which he had already recited before, primarily from Psalm XLIV, in which Christ is praised as both God and man at once, and the conversion of the Gentiles is predicted. Trypho agrees (n. 64) that Christ may be God of the nations, but denies that the Jews have need of him. Justin therefore disciplines this impiety, and continues the demonstration he had undertaken concerning God made man. Trypho objects (n. 65) that God does not give his glory to another. Justin explains the passage (n. 66), and then recounts the prophecy of Isaiah: Behold a virgin, etc. But when he prepared to say many things concerning this prophecy, Trypho interrupts and objects: 1° That Scripture does not say: Behold a virgin, but: Behold a young woman. That this generation from a virgin is not unlike the fable of Perseus. 3° That it would have been better for Jesus…
confess that he was born a man among men, and that, if he were indeed Christ, he had attained this dignity by the careful observance of the Law. Justin answers these three points in such a way that he begins with the last, which seemed perhaps of the greatest moment. 1° Therefore, he refutes the Jewish opinions concerning the Law and Christ, whom they imagined to be a mere man born of men (n. 67, 68). 2° (n. 69, 70). Among those things which poets have lied about concerning Bacchus, Hercules, Aesculapius, and Perseus, he shows the artifices of the devil, whom he believed to have imitated the oracles of the prophets. 3° Since the Jews, having rejected the interpretation of the seventy elders, said it was written: "Behold, a young woman," he challenges (n. 71) their wicked judgment regarding this interpretation, from which he says they have also removed many testimonies. He produces some of these at the request of Trypho (n. 72, 73), the last of which is: "The Lord has reigned from the tree." But when Trypho contended that this Psalm could not be referred to Christ (n. 74), Justin tries to satisfy him and gathers other places of Scripture (n. 75, 76) in which the majesty of divinity is likewise joined with the humility of the flesh. A
Having dispatched these things, which Trypho had objected against the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive," Justin demonstrates (n. 77, 78) that the prophecy was fulfilled in Christ; and after he explains the questions interposed by the Jew, concerning Jerusalem and the reign of a thousand years (n. 79, 81), and having taken the opportunity from the testimony of the Apocalypse, he discourses somewhat (n. 82) on the gift of prophecy among Christians and on the persecutions and heresies foretold by Christ; then he truly exhorts the Jews not to take an occasion from heretics and evil Christians to curse Christ and interpret Scripture perversely. For it is in vain for them to cast up Hezekiah, so as to evade those things which Justin demonstrates (n. 83, 84) were spoken not of Hezekiah, but of Christ alone, as in the Psalm "The Lord said," and so also in this prophecy, "Behold, a virgin." Thus he also shows (n. 85) that Psalm 22 is absurdly referred to Hezekiah: and he declares himself induced by charity to repeat many things discussed the day before for the sake of those who were not present. B
Now that the mystery of God born of a Virgin had been defended by so many testimonies of Scripture, a new labor was born for Justin in defending the cross of Christ in a similar way. He therefore gathers many things (n. 86) which had prefigured the wood of the cross in the Old Testament; and when Trypho had taken an occasion from these words, "A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse," which Justin had cited, to ask why Christ, since he is God, had need of the Holy Spirit, Justin responds to this question (n. 87, 88). Trypho denies that he can be induced to acknowledge the ignominy of the cross, for the reason that "cursed by God is everyone who hangs on a tree." Then Justin demonstrates (n. 90, 91) how great is the power of the cross, from the hands of Moses extended, from the blessing given to Joseph, and from the exalted serpent: he posits some principles for interpreting the Scriptures (n. 92, 93), and finally explains the passage objected to by Trypho (n. 94). He defends the same mystery with other testimonies of Scripture (n. 95), especially these: "They pierced my hands," etc. He even recites the whole Psalm (n. 97, 105) and interprets it verse by verse. C
He proves the resurrection of Christ from the end of the same Psalm and from the history of Jonah (n. 106, 107, 108), which, when objected to the Jews by Christ, they not only did not imitate the Ninevites, but also sent men throughout the whole world to bring Christ and Christians into odium with the most terrible calumnies. He says nothing of the ascension of Christ in this place, perhaps because he had said enough on that matter above (n. 85).
PART III. The conversion of the Ninevites, which Christians have imitated, but the Jews not at all, gave Justin an opportune entry into the third part of this Dialogue. He proves that the conversion of the Gentiles was foretold by Micah (n. 109, 110), and collects many other things (n. 111) by which the liberation of the Gentiles through the blood of Christ was prefigured. He refutes the meager and hollow interpretations of the Jews (n. 112), and shows that Joshua was a figure of Christ, and that the Gentiles were to be introduced through Christ into the holy land, and had received from him a second circumcision far more excellent than the Jewish one (n. 113, 114). He confirms the same dogma (n. 115, 116, 117, 118) from the vision of Zechariah and the prediction of Malachi concerning the sacrifice of the Christians, which he confirms from the priesthood of Christ and his other titles. He shows that the same Christians are the people, and a people far holier than the Jews, and the race promised to Abraham and his son and grandson (n. 119, 120); and that the blessing promised in Christ himself does *not* refer to the proselytes of the Jews, but to Christians, who are the true Israel and the children of God (for the reason that Christ is the Son of God, and Israel, and the God who appeared to the ancients, from God the Father, as fire begotten from fire, the Lord distinct from the Lord Father) and they rejoice with the people of God, as the prophets foretold, and justify their calling by the holiness of their morals, while the Jews have always offended and do offend God with the greatest impiety (n. 121, 133). D
He also shows the figures and predictions of the Church (n. 134, 139) in the marriages of Jacob, to whom another seed was promised, which would succeed the reprobate Jews; and in the ark of Noah and the blessings which Noah gave to his sons. In this Church there is no distinction of servants and free men (n. 140), and the Jews glory in vain that they are the sons of Abraham, who he proves have indeed fallen by their own fault (n. 141). This dispute having been concluded (n. 142), when Justin fell silent, Trypho offers him very honorable thanks in his own name and in that of his companions, and prays for a prosperous voyage: and in turn, Justin, departing, greets them in a most friendly manner, and declares that he can wish nothing better for them than that they might arrive at the knowledge of Christ.
OF THE SAME JUSTIN, DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO THE JEW
1. Justin, because of his philosopher’s garb, declares that Moses is to be preferred far above the philosophers. — Walking in the morning in the paths of the xystus, having met a certain person with others, "Greetings, philosopher," he said. And immediately having said this, having turned A
he walked with me. His friends also turned with him. Then I, in turn, saluting him: "What is the matter," I said, "most excellent sir?" A
And he: "I was taught at Argos," he said, "by Corinthus the Socratic, that I ought not to despise or neglect those who are clothed in this garment, but show them every kindness and associate with them, if any benefit might result from the meeting either to them or to me. It is good for both, even if only one is benefited. For this reason, then, when I see someone in this attire, I gladly approach him; and for the same reason I have now addressed you with pleasure, and these men accompany me, hoping that they too may hear something profitable from you."
"But who are you, most excellent of mortals?" Thus I spoke to him in jest. B
And he revealed his name and lineage to me simply: "I am called Trypho," he said; "I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, having fled the war that has recently taken place, and mostly residing in Greece and Corinth."
"And what," I said, "could you possibly be benefited by philosophy as much as by your Lawgiver and the prophets?"
"Why, do not the philosophers," he said, "engage in every argument concerning God, and are not investigations concerning His unity and providence made by them at all times? Or is this not the work of philosophy, to inquire into the divine?" C
"Yes," I said; "we also have thought the same. But most people have not even concerned themselves with this—whether there is one God or many, and whether they provide for each of us or not—as if this knowledge contributes nothing to our happiness. Furthermore, they attempt to persuade us that God takes care of the universe and of the kinds and species themselves, but that He does not take care of me D
A and of you, nor of particulars; since otherwise we would not pray to Him throughout the entirety of every night and day. It is not difficult to understand where this ends for them. For there is freedom and license to say and to follow those who hold these opinions, and to do and say whatever they wish, fearing neither punishment nor hoping for any good from God. For how could they fear or hope, since they say that the same things will always happen, and that I and you shall live again in the same way, having become neither better nor worse? Others, assuming that the soul is immortal and incorporeal, believe that they will not pay the penalty if they have done any wrong (for that which is incorporeal is incapable of suffering), nor, such being the case, that an immortal soul is in need of anything from God.
The other, smiling urbanely, said: But what is your opinion regarding these matters, and what is your judgment concerning God, and what is your philosophy? Tell us.
2. Philosophy, I said, is in truth the greatest possession and most precious in the sight of God, to whom it alone leads us and commends us; and those are truly holy who have applied their minds to philosophy. But what philosophy is, and for what reason it was sent down to men, has escaped the notice of the majority. For there would not be Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics B, nor Pythagoreans, since this science is one. Why it has become many-headed, I wish to tell. It happened that the first who touched upon it, and for this reason became famous, were followed by their successors without any investigation of the truth, but simply astounded by their endurance and self-control and the strangeness of their discourses, they judged these to be true. C These, having deemed philosophy dual, just as Aristotle and Plato, speculative and practical, understood of their own accord, it is clear, that man is by nature suited for action and knowledge. Therefore, let no one divide philosophy into many parts for us, nor let him cut it into many pieces; or rather, let him not make many out of one. For just as truth is one, so also is philosophy. D [alt-version omitted]
A And each person learned from their teacher; then, as they in turn handed down such things and others similar to these to those who came after them, they were designated by that name which the father of the doctrine had been called.
I, at the beginning, feeling this way myself and wishing to share in these things with one of them, gave myself over to a certain Stoic. And having spent a sufficient amount of time with him, since I learned nothing more about God (for neither did he know, nor did he consider this knowledge necessary), I left him and came to another, called a Peripatetic, a sharp-witted man—or so he thought himself. And after this man had borne with me for the first few days, he later requested that I settle a fee, so that our association might not be unprofitable for us. Because of this reason I left him as well, not considering him a philosopher at all.
However, since my soul was still ardently desiring to hear the unique and pre-eminent aspect of philosophy, I approached one who was highly reputed, a Pythagorean, a man who thought much of his own wisdom. And then, as I discoursed with him, wishing to become his student and associate, he said: “What then, have you occupied yourself with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you think you will perceive any of those things which contribute to a happy life if you have not first been taught these, which will draw the soul away from objects perceptible to the senses and render it fit for the intelligible realm, so that it might behold that which is beautiful itself and that which is good itself?” B And after praising these disciplines highly and declaring them necessary, he sent me away when I confessed to him that I did not know them.
I was distressed, therefore, as was to be expected, having missed out on my hope, and the more so because I thought he knew something. And again, when I considered the time I would have to spend on those disciplines, I could not bear to be put off for so long. But while I was in this state of helplessness, it seemed good to me to meet with the Platonists, for the reputation of these people was great. And indeed, associating daily with a man of understanding who had recently arrived in our city and who excelled among the Platonists, I made great progress and attained as much as possible, advancing day by day. C And the comprehension of immaterial things quite carried me away, and the contemplation of the Ideas added wings to my intellect; and in a short time I thought I had become wise, and because of my foolishness I hoped that I would immediately behold God; for this is the goal of the philosophy of Plato.
5. And when I was in this state, since it seemed good to have a great deal of tranquility and to avoid the beaten path of men, I proceeded to a place not far from the sea. And when I had come near to that place, where I was about to arrive...
A I would be alone; a certain old man, not unworthy of note in his appearance, displaying a grave and gentle demeanor, was following me at a short distance. I turned toward him, stopped, and fixed my eyes upon him somewhat keenly.
"Do you know me?" he said to me. I denied it. "Why, then," he said to me, "do you look at me so?" "I am amazed," I said, "that you happened to be in the same place as I; for I did not expect to see any man here." "I am concerned," he said to me, "for some of my own people. They have gone abroad; and so I myself have come to watch, to see if they should appear from anywhere. But what of you here?" he asked me. "I take pleasure," I said, "in such strolls, in which, since nothing occurs which might interrupt, my conversation with myself takes place, and is unimpeded. Such places are most appropriate for philosophy." "So you are a lover of words," he said, "but not at all a lover of deeds or of truth; and you do not try to be practical rather than a sophist?" "What greater good," I said, "could one do, than to show that reason B governs all, and, having grasped this, and riding upon it, to look down upon the error of others and their pursuits, how they do nothing sound, nor anything pleasing to God? For without philosophy and right reason, prudence could not be present in anyone. Therefore, every man should philosophize, and consider this the greatest and most honorable work." C
(67) Sylburgius thinks the words [μὴ ἐναντία δρώσαις] should be read; and these are to be placed before [ἀνεμπόδιστος]. But it is not necessary to require the most accurate construction of words from S. Justin. Perionius conjectured that [μὴ δράσαις] should be read, which I could not render into Latin. For since [λόγοι] signify words, discourse, letters, and doctrine, Justin, as some have already observed, uses this word in the latter sense, but is so agitated by the old man as if he had used it in the former sense. A philosopher and a Christian seem to differ from Tertullian only as much as a "performer of words and deeds." (Apol. 47).
(68) That you are a lover of words, but not at all a lover of deeds.
(69) "Greater good," which can in no way be carried. Who then would say to do a greater good? It is evident that we must read the text as Thirlbius observed before me. For slightly later: "In both cases, however, the preceding words are considered." These things should not be understood of the Son, but of the divine reason or contemplation, in which sense Cicero says in *Tusc. Disp.* 1: "Reason, the mistress and queen of all things." For, first, the passage of Plato which Justin, as we shall see, imitates, pertains to the contemplation of God, and does not even in the smallest part touch upon his Word and Son. Second, when Justin was speaking these things with the old man—that is, in about the year 132—disputes about the Word of God were not yet fervent in the Platonic schools, as we shall demonstrate, if God grants, in the book *Concerning the Divinity of Christ*. The words of the holy martyr correspond well enough with this title of one of the books of Josephus: *Concerning Reason possessed of supreme sovereignty.* Let those who wish read the conjecture of the learned Thirlbius; but I confess it does not please me.
(70) "Reason governing."
(71) "Riding upon it, as if on a raft, to sail through the dangers of this life, if one were not able to cross more safely and without danger D on a firmer vehicle, or by some divine reason." Thirlbius reports this testimony, and points out another in the *Phaedo*, p. 246. And these things said concerning divine and human reason did not yet become unbecoming to Justin the Platonist. But the Christians do not say that we are to be governed by reason overall, or by the Word of God, but rather that the Word himself resides in us. Christ is said to be [ἐπιβάτην] (a passenger or rider) in the holy ones by Eusebius in the *Psalms*, p. 193; Gregory of Nyssa in *Homily 5 on the Canticles*; Cyril of Alexandria in *John*, p. 389, and in the *Prophets*, p. 564 and 573. Hence Gregory Nazianzen calls the Word a "rider" (*sessorem*), *Orat.* 34. Jerome in *Epist. ad Salvinam*: "It is our duty," he says, "to quench the ardor of pleasure with a greater love for Christ, and to subjugate the lascivious beast with the reins of fasting: so that it may not seek and desire lust, but food, and may carry the Holy Spirit as its rider with a moderate and composed gait."
A to be considered the primary and most excellent work, but second and third matters are to be placed; and if such things are attached to philosophy, they are moderate and worthy of acceptance; but if they are deprived of it and it does not accompany them, to those who handle them they are burdensome and illiberal.
"Does philosophy, therefore, produce happiness?" said he, interrupting.
"Most certainly," said I, "and it alone."
"What then is philosophy," says he, "and what is its happiness? If nothing prevents you from explaining, explain."
"Philosophy, then," said I, "is the science of that which is, and the knowledge of the truth; and happiness is the reward of this science and wisdom."
"But what do you call God?" said he.
"That which has the same state and in the same manner always, and is the cause of being for all other things, this indeed is God." These things I answered him, and he was delighted to hear me, and thus he asked me again:
"Is not 'science' a common name for diverse things? For in all the arts, he who has the knowledge of any of them is called a scientist—in the military art, in the art of navigation, and in medicine likewise. In divine and human matters, does it not hold the same way? Is there a science which provides knowledge of human and divine things, and then the knowledge of their divinity and justice?"
"Most certainly," said I.
"What then? Is the knowing of man and God the same as music, and arithmetic, and astronomy, or something of that sort?"
"By no means," said I.
"You have not, therefore, answered me rightly," said he. "For some things are acquired by us through learning or through some experience; while others produce science from sight. If someone should tell you that in India there is an animal by nature unlike all others, but of such and such a kind, manifold and varied in form, you would not know what it is before you see it; nor could you even give any account of it, unless you had heard it from one who has seen it."
"Certainly not," I said.
"How then," said he, "can philosophers think rightly about God, or say anything true, if they have no science of Him, since they have perceived nothing of Him by sight or hearing?"
"But the divine, D father," said I, "is not visible to the eyes as other living things are, but is perceived by the mind alone, as Plato says, and I agree with him."
A
"But," he said, "is there in us a power, if we have not perceived it quickly by sense, that perceives it? Or will the human mind ever see God, if it is not adorned with the Holy Spirit?" B
"For Plato says," I replied, "that the eye of the mind has such a nature, and was given to us for this purpose, that we might be able to see that very Being with that clear eye itself—the Being which is the cause of all things that are perceived by the mind, having neither color, nor form, nor size, nor anything of which the eye has sight; but it is something C that is above all essence, ineffable and unutterable, but only beautiful and good, which suddenly springs up in souls naturally well-disposed on account of their kinship and desire to see it."
"What kinship, then," he asked, "have we with God? Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very kingly mind? And as that one sees God, is it also possible for us, by our own mind, to grasp the divine and from then on to be blessed?"
"Entirely so," I said. D
"Do the souls of all living creatures also possess this," he asked, "or is the soul of man one thing, and that of the horse and donkey another?"
"No," I replied, "but they are the same in all."
"Will horses and donkeys, therefore," he said, "see, or have they ever seen, God?"
"Not at all," I said; "for not even the majority of men, unless one has lived in justice and has been purified by justice and every other virtue."
"It is not, then, because of kinship," he said, "that one sees God, nor because it is mind, but because it is temperate and just?"
"Yes," I said, "and because it possesses that whereby it can perceive God."
"What then? Do goats or sheep harm anyone?"
"None at all," I said.
"Will these animals, then," he said, "according to your reasoning, see God?"
"No; for the body, being such as it is, is an impediment to them."
"If these animals were to receive speech," the old man suggested, "you may be certain that they would with much better reason hurl abuse at the body..."
A for not acting in accordance with it. But let us leave this aside. Since you have spoken as you have, let it be granted. But tell me this: when the soul is in the body, does it see God, or does it see him after it has been released from it?"
"While it is in the form of a human," I said, "it can attain this through the mind; but it does so most of all when it has been released from the body and, having become itself by itself, it encounters that which it has been seeking for all time."
"And does it recall this again when it enters into a human once more?"
"I do not think so," I said.
"What advantage, then, is it to those who have seen Him? Or what more does he who has seen Him have over him who has not, if he does not even have the memory that he has seen?"
"I cannot say," I replied.
"And those who are judged unworthy of this vision, what happens to them?" he asked. B
"They are bound into the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment."
"Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such bodies, and that they have sinned in some way?"
"I do not think so."
"Therefore, they derive no benefit from the punishment, as it seems; indeed, I would not even say they are punished, if they do not perceive the punishment."
"Certainly not."
"Therefore, souls do not see God, nor do they pass into other bodies; for if they did, they would know that they C were being punished in this way, and they would fear to commit even the slightest sin hereafter. That they are able to understand that there is a God, and that justice and piety are good, I agree," he said.
"You speak rightly," I said.
"Therefore, those philosophers know nothing about these matters; for they cannot even explain what the soul is."
"It does not seem so."
"It is not right to call it immortal either; for if it is immortal, it is also beyond birth—that is evident."
"Yet some so-called Platonists maintain that it is both beyond birth and immortal."
"And do you also say that the world is beyond birth?" D
"There are some who say so, but I do not agree with them."
You do well. For what reason can there be for a body so solid and resistant, and composite, and subject to change and decay, and coming into being every single day, not to be thought to have come into being from some beginning? And if the world is created, it is necessary that souls also have been created and perhaps at one time did not exist. For they came into being for the sake of human beings and other living creatures, if you say they were created A separately and not together with their individual bodies. That seems to be correct. Are they not, therefore, immortal? No, since the world appeared to us to be created. But I do not say that all souls perish; for that would indeed be a godsend to the wicked. What then? I mean that the souls of the pious remain in some better place, while the unjust and wicked remain in a worse place, awaiting the time of judgment. Thus, those that are found worthy of God do not die anymore; but the others are punished for as long as God wills them to exist and to be punished. B Is what you say, then, of the same nature as what Plato obscurely hands down regarding the world, calling it subject to corruption, in so far as it is created, yet saying that it will not be dissolved, nor meet with the fate of death, because of the will of God? Does the same hold true for you regarding the soul and, in general, everything? For whatever things exist after God, or will exist at some time, have a nature subject to corruption and are such that they can be destroyed and cease to exist. For God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and for this reason, He is God; but all other things that exist after Him are created and corruptible. C For this very reason, souls must both die and be punished. For if they were unbegotten, they would not commit sin, nor be filled with folly, nor be cowardly and again ferocious; nor would they ever willingly depart into swine or snakes or dogs; nor again would it be right for them to be compelled, if they are unbegotten.
The unbegotten is similar to the unbegotten, and equal, and the same; nor could one of them be preferred over the other in power or in dignity; whence there are not many unbegotten things. For if there were some difference in them, you would not find it by searching for the cause of the difference, but sending your mind ever into the infinite, you would at last, weary, stop at some one unbegotten thing, and you would call this the cause of all. Then did this escape, I say, A Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men who have become for us, as it were, a wall and bulwark of philosophy?”
6. “I do not care,” he said, “for Plato or Pythagoras, nor for anyone at all who holds such opinions. For the truth is as follows: you may learn it from this. The soul either is life or has life. If it is life, it would make something else live, not itself, just as motion moves something else rather than itself. But that the soul lives, no one would deny. If it lives, it does not live by being life, but by partaking of life. For that which partakes of something is distinct from that of which it partakes. The soul partakes of life because God wishes it to live; thus it will also not partake of it at any time when He does not wish it to live. For life does not belong to it as it does to God; B but just as man does not exist forever, nor is the body always joined with the soul, but whenever this harmony must be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man is not, so also when it is necessary for the soul to live no longer, the spirit departs and the soul is no longer, but it returns again to that place from whence it was taken.”
7. From whom, then, I said, could anyone find a teacher, or whence could one be helped, if the truth is not to be found even in these men?
There existed, long before this time, certain men who were much older than all these who are considered philosophers, men who were blessed and just and beloved of God, who spoke by the Holy Spirit and predicted future events, which are even now coming to pass; these men are called prophets. B They alone both saw and proclaimed the truth to men, fearing no one and reverencing no one, and not overcome by the desire for glory, but speaking only those things which they heard and saw, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings still remain to this very day, and one who reads them may derive great profit both concerning the beginning and the end, and concerning those things which a philosopher ought to know, provided he has faith in them. For they did not use demonstrations in their discourses, since they themselves were, beyond all demonstration, most trustworthy witnesses of the truth; but the things which have happened and are happening compel one to agree with their prophecies. Although they were also worthy to be believed on account of the miracles which they performed, C since they glorified the God and Father of all as Creator, and proclaimed the Christ who was sent by Him as His Son; which indeed the false prophets, who are filled with a lying and impure spirit, neither did nor do, but they dare to perform certain wonders to astonish men, and they glorify the spirits of error and demons. But above all, pray that the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by everyone, unless God and His Christ grant to a man the power to understand.
8. Justin is incited by this conversation to the love of Christ. — When he had said these things and many others, which it is not the time now to relate, he departed, bidding me to follow them up by meditation; and I saw him no more. But in my soul there was immediately ignited a fire, and D a love for the prophets and for those men who are friends of Christ took possession of me. As I pondered his words in my mind, I found this to be the only sure and useful philosophy. Thus, and for this reason, am I now a philosopher. And I would wish that all men, following a course of reasoning similar to mine, would not stand apart from the words of the Savior. For they possess a certain terrible majesty in themselves, and are capable of striking with awe those who have turned aside from the right path, while they become a sweetest rest to those who meditate upon them. If, therefore, you have any care for yourself, and seek your own salvation, and trust in God, even as you did not otherwise...
A know, you might, having recognized the Christ of God and become perfect, enjoy blessedness.
When I had said these things, dearest friend, those who were with Trypho laughed; but he, smiling, said: "As for your other points, I approve of them, and I admire your zeal for the things of God; but it would have been better if you had still remained in the philosophy of Plato or some other, practicing endurance, temperance, and sobriety, rather than being deceived by fallacious words and following men who are worth nothing. For if you had remained in that way of philosophy, and lived blamelessly, a hope of a better lot would have remained for you; but if you have abandoned God and have placed your hope in man, what salvation still remains for you? If, therefore, you are willing to listen to me (for I already consider you a friend), B first be circumcised, then observe, as is ordained by the law, the Sabbath and the feasts and the new moons of God, and in a word, do all things written in the law; and then perhaps you will receive mercy from God. But Christ, even if he has been born and exists somewhere, is unknown, and does not even know himself, nor does he have any power until Elias comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to all. But you, having accepted a vain hearsay, invent a certain Christ for yourselves, and for his sake you are now perishing pointlessly."
9. "Forgiveness to you, my friend," I said, "and may it be granted you. For you do not know what you are saying; but, believing teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, you speak like a soothsayer whatever comes into your mind. But if you would allow yourself to receive an argument concerning this, C to show that we have not been deceived, nor will we cease to confess him, even if the reproaches of men are brought against us, and even if the most savage tyrant forces us to deny him; for, being present, I will show that we have not believed in empty fables, nor in discourses devoid of proof, but in those that are full of the divine Spirit and abounding in power, and flourishing with grace." — Those who were with him laughed again, and...
cried out indecorously. But when I had risen, I was like one departing; but he, taking hold of my garment, said he would not let me go A until I had performed what I had promised. "Do not, then," said I, "let your companions make a disturbance, nor let them behave so indecorously. But if they wish, let them listen in silence; but if some more important business hinders them, let them go; and we, having withdrawn somewhere and rested, shall finish our discourse." It seemed good to Trypho also that we should do so; and so, turning aside, we went into the middle of the stadium of the xystus. But two of those with him, after jeering at us and mocks-treating our zeal, went away. We, when we arrived at that place where there are stone seats on either side, sat down on the other side, and the friends of Trypho, someone of them having mentioned the war that took place in Judæa, began to converse.
10. When they had rested, I began thus to them again: "Is there anything else, my friends, for which you blame us, except this, that we do not live according to the law, nor are we circumcised in the flesh like your ancestors, nor do we keep the sabbath as you do? Or is our life and character also defamed among you? And this is what I mean: have you too believed concerning us, that we eat men, and that after the feast, having extinguished the lamps, we wallow in shameful promiscuity? Or do you condemn us only for this, that we adhere to such doctrines, and believe in a, as you think, false opinion?"
"It is this that we admire," said Trypho. "But as to the things which the many say, they are not worthy of belief; for they are far removed from human nature. But I know that these precepts in your so-called Gospel are so wonderful and great, that I suspect no one can keep them; for I have taken the trouble to read them. But we are in doubt precisely about this, that while you profess to practice piety, and believe yourselves to surpass others, yet in nothing do you differ from them, nor is your mode of life separated from the Gentiles, in that you observe neither festivals, nor sabbaths, nor have you the circumcision; and furthermore, because B while your hopes are placed upon a man who was crucified, you nevertheless hope to obtain some good from God, while you do not keep His commandments. Have you not read that that soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off from its kindred? And the same has been ordained concerning strangers and those bought with silver. C Having therefore at once despised this covenant, you even treat lightly the things that follow, and attempt to persuade us that God is with you." D
A Since you do not do the things that those who fear God do, if, therefore, you have anything to say in defense of these matters, and can demonstrate in what way you hope for anything at all, even though you do not keep the law, we would most gladly hear this from you, and afterward examine other matters in the same way.
11. There will never be another God, O Trypho, nor has there been another from eternity (so I said to him), except Him who made and fashioned this whole universe. Nor do we consider one God to be ours and another yours, but that very same one who led your fathers out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Nor have we set our hope in any other (for there is no other), but in that same one in whom you also do, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But we have not set our hope through Moses, nor through the law; for then we should do the same as you. But now (for I have read, O Trypho, that there would be a final law and a covenant most binding of all, which it is now B necessary for all men to observe, whoever claim the inheritance of God. For the law in Horeb is already old and belongs to you alone; but this one belongs to all universally. A law placed against a law has abrogated the one before it; and a covenant made subsequently has likewise established the former as finished; and Christ has been given to us as the eternal and final law, and the faithful covenant, after which there is no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Or have you not read that which Isaiah says: "Hearken to me, hearken to me, my people; and you kings, give ear to me: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near quickly, and my salvation shall go forth, and in my arm shall the nations trust." And through Jeremiah, regarding this same New Covenant, he says thus: "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not as the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.") If, therefore, God proclaimed that a new covenant was to be ordained, and this for a light to the nations,
A we see and are persuaded, through the name of this very Jesus Christ who was crucified, that those who have come to God from idols and from other unrighteousness, and who persevere even unto death in the confession and the piety, can be understood by all—both from these works and from the power that follows—to be the new law, and the new testament, and the expectation of those who from among all nations are awaiting the good things from God. For the true Israelitic, spiritual, and Judahite race—and that of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, who even in uncircumcision was testified to by God because of his faith, and was blessed, and was called the father of many nations—we, I say, are this race, we who through this crucified Christ have been brought to God, as shall be demonstrated as our discourse proceeds.
12. Judæi æternam legem violant, Mosaicam male interpretantur. — I was also saying and bringing forward what Isaiah cries out in another place: "Hear my words, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the holy sure things of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the nations. Nations that did not know you will call upon you; and peoples who do not know you will take refuge with you, because of your God, the Holy One of Israel, B for he has glorified you." You have treated this very law with contumely, and have made light of His new holy Testament; and even now you do not accept it, nor do you repent of your wicked deeds. "For still your ears are stopped, your eyes have been blinded, and your heart has been hardened," cries out Jeremiah, and even so you do not listen. The Lawgiver is present, and you do not see him; the poor have the gospel preached to them, the blind receive their sight, and you do not understand. There is now need of a second circumcision, yet you boast greatly in the flesh. The new law wishes you to keep the Sabbath continually; and you, because you are idle for one day, think you are being pious, not understanding why it was enjoined upon you; and if you eat unleavened bread, you say you have fulfilled the will of God. It is not in these things that the Lord our God delights. If any one among you is a perjurer or a thief, let him cease; if any is an adulterer, let him repent; and he has kept the C sweet and true Sabbaths of God. If any one does not have clean hands, let him wash, and he is clean.
13. Isa. LV, 3, 5. 13. For John D did not send you to a bath...
for the slaughter and other sins, for whom not even all the water of the sea suffices to cleanse; but, as is fitting, he was A long ago proclaiming that saving bath which would belong to those who repent, and who are no longer cleansed by the blood of goats and sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer, or by offerings of fine flour, B but by faith through the blood of Christ and his death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said, speaking thus: “The Lord will reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all nations and the ends of the earth will see the salvation which is from God. Depart, depart, depart, go out from there, and do not touch the unclean; go out from the midst of her; be separate, you who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you do not go out in C alarm. For the Lord will go before your face, and the Lord the God of Israel will gather you. Behold, my child shall understand, and shall be lifted up and shall be glorified exceedingly. According as many shall be astonished at you, so shall your form and your glory be destitute of honor from men. So shall many nations marvel at him, and kings shall shut their mouths; because those to whom no report was told about him, shall see; and those who have not heard, shall understand. Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? We announced before him like a child, like a root in a thirsty land. There is no form to him, and no glory; and we saw him, and he had no form or beauty; but his form is dishonored, and failing before the sons of men. A man in a blow, and knowing how to bear illness, because his face was turned away; he was dishonored and not regarded. He bears our sins, and suffers for us; and we thought him to be in labor and in a blow and in affliction; D but he was wounded for our sins, and has been weakened for our iniquities; the discipline of our peace was upon him; by his stripe we were healed. We all like sheep went astray. A man went astray in his own way; and the Lord delivered him over to our sins, and he, because of his affliction, does not open his mouth. As a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. By the iniquities of my people he comes to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; because he did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. And the Lord wishes to cleanse him from the blow. If he is given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord wishes to take away from the pain of his soul, to show him light, and to form him in understanding, to justify the just one who serves many well; and he himself shall bear our sins; therefore he shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was delivered to death, and he was reckoned among the transgressors, and he himself bore the sins of many, and for their iniquities he was delivered. Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor; for many are the children of the desolate one, rather than of her who has a husband. For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of your tabernacle and of your curtains; fix it, do not spare, lengthen your ropes, and strengthen your stakes; to the right and left expand. And your seed shall inherit the nations, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities. Fear not, because you were shamed, nor be confounded, because you were reproached; for you shall forget your eternal confusion, and you shall no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood; B because the Lord has made a name for himself, and the one who delivered you shall be called the God of Israel over all the earth. As a woman abandoned and faint-hearted has the Lord called you, as a woman hated from her youth.
14. C *Justice is not set in Jewish rites, but in conversion of heart through Christ, given in baptism.*
Therefore, through the washing of repentance and the knowledge of God, which was instituted for the sins of the peoples of God, as Isaiah cries out, we have believed, and we acknowledge that this was what that baptism heralded, which alone can cleanse those who have repented; this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and altogether useless to you. For what benefit is that baptism, from which flesh and the body alone grow bright? Be baptized as to your soul from wrath and from avarice, from envy, from hatred; and behold, the body is clean. For this is the meaning of the unleavened bread, that you should not practice the D old deeds of the evil leaven. But you have understood everything carnally and...
believe that it is piety, if you do these things, while your souls are simply filled with deceit and all wickedness. For this reason, even after the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread, God commanded you to knead for yourselves new leaven, that is, the performance of other deeds, and not the imitation of old and base ones. And that this is what this new lawgiver demands of you, I shall recount again the words previously mentioned by me, together with the others that were omitted. A They are spoken by Isaiah in this manner: “Give ear to me, and your soul shall live in good things, and I will make for you an everlasting covenant, the holy things of David that are sure. Behold, I have given him as a testimony to nations, a leader and commander to the nations. Nations that know you not shall call upon you, and peoples who do not know you shall flee to you, for the sake of your God, the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord, and when you find him, call upon him, when he draws near to you. Let the wicked leave his ways, and the lawless man his counsels, and let him turn to the Lord, and he shall find mercy, for he will abundantly pardon your sins. For my counsels are not as your counsels, B nor are my ways as your ways; but as the heavens are distant from the earth, so is my way distant from your way, and your thoughts from my mind. For as the snow or the rain shall come down from heaven and shall not return until it saturates the earth and causes it to bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to eat, so shall my word be, whenever it shall go out of my mouth. It shall not return until it has accomplished all that I have willed, and I shall make my commandments to prosper. For you shall go forth with joy, and shall be taught with gladness. For the mountains and the hills shall leap while waiting for you, and all the trees of the fields shall applaud with their branches; and instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the bramble shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name and an everlasting sign, and it shall not fail.” C And concerning these words and such things as have been spoken by the prophets, I said, O Trypho, some are said of the first advent of Christ, in which he is proclaimed as destined to appear without glory, and unsightly, and mortal; but others belong to his second advent, when he shall appear in glory and upon the clouds, and your people shall see and recognize him whom they pierced, as Osee, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel have foretold. D
A Learn, therefore, how to observe the fast of God, as Isaiah says, that you may be pleasing to God. Isaiah cries out thus: "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of God. They ask me now for just judgment, and they desire to approach God, saying, 'Why have we fasted, and you did not see? We have humbled our souls, and you did not know?' For in the days of your fasts you find your own pleasures, and you oppress all those who are under you. Behold, you fast for judgments and strifes, and you strike the humble with fists. Why do you fast for me, as today, so that your voice may be heard in crying? I have not chosen this fast, and the day for a man to humble his soul. Nor if you bend your neck like a ring, and spread sackcloth and ashes, not even so shall you call it a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord. B I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord; but loose every bond of wickedness, undo the knots of violent contracts, let those who are crushed go in remission, and tear up every unjust document. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; if you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise those of your own seed. Then your morning light shall break forth, and your garments shall quickly rise, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall encompass you. Then you shall cry, and God will hear you; while you are yet speaking, he will say, 'Behold, I am here.' If you take away from yourself C the bond and the hand-lifting, and the word of murmuring, and give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and satisfy the humbled soul, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the midday; and your God shall be with you always, and you shall be filled as your soul desires; and your bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a watered garden, and a fountain of water, a land whose water does not fail." Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, as the words of God demand through all these sayings.
A And the Lord God himself cries out through Moses, saying: «And you shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and your neck you shall not harden any more. For the Lord your God is the Lord of lords, a God great and mighty and terrible, who does not regard a person, nor will he take a gift.» And in Leviticus: «Because they transgressed and despised me, and because they walked in opposition to me, and I walked in opposition to them, and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies. Then their uncircumcised heart shall be humbled.» For the circumcision from Abraham B according to the flesh was given as a sign, so that you might be set apart from other nations and from us, and so that you alone might suffer what you now justly suffer; and that your lands might be desolate, and your cities burned with fire, and strangers might eat the fruits in your presence, and none of you might set foot in Jerusalem. For you are recognized by nothing else compared to other men, except by your circumcision in the flesh. For none of you, I assume, will dare to say that God was not as he is, even a foreknower of things to come, and that he did not assign to each C that which was worthy.
D It is worthy of closer attention, this sentiment of the holy martyr, which is used often in this Dialogue. Heretics used to attribute ignorance and weakness to the God of the Jews, as can be seen in Irenaeus (lib. iv, c. 4), because of the destruction of Jerusalem and the institutions of the Mosaic law which were turned to the ruin of the Jews. Against this, Justin marvels most at the providence of God in this: that whereas most institutions could not be observed anywhere except in Jerusalem, circumcision itself, which could be observed elsewhere, precluded the approach of the Jews to this city. That circumcision was instituted so that the Jews might be separated from other nations, very many writers have said. But that it was instituted, as Justin says, so that being distinguished by this mark they might be punished, this Tertullian imitates in his book *Against the Jews* (c. 3): «For circumcision was given, he says, but for a sign; whence Israel was to be distinguished in the last time, when according to their deserts they were to be forbidden from entering into the holy city... This, therefore, was the providence of God, the giving of circumcision to Israel for a sign whereby they might be distinguished, when the time arrived that, by their aforementioned deserts, they were to be forbidden from being admitted into Jerusalem.» Perhaps in the same sense should be taken what Irenaeus says (lib. iv, c. 16), that circumcision was given as a sign, «so that the race of Abraham might persist in being recognizable.» See lib. iii, c. 12, n. 11.
A I do not think there is any one of you who would dare to deny that God is both prescient of future events and that He prepares rewards worthy of each. Deservedly, therefore, have these things happened to you. For you killed the Just One and His prophets before Him, and now you set at naught those who hope in Him, and you also set at naught the Almighty and Maker of all things, the God who sent Him. As far as it lies within your power, you treat them with contumely, cursing D those in your synagogues who believe in Christ. For you do not have the power to lay violent hands upon us because of those who now hold authority; but as often as you have been able, you have done even this. Therefore does God cry out to you through the prophet Isaiah in these words: "See how the just one has perished, and no one understands. For from the face of iniquity the just one has been taken. His burial shall be in peace, he has been taken from the midst. Draw near here, you lawless sons, seed of adulterers and children of a harlot. In whom have you delighted, and against whom have you opened your mouth, and against whom have you let loose your tongue?" (Isa. LVII, 1-4).
17. B It is not, however, the case that the other nations involve themselves in this iniquity against us and against Christ to as great a degree as you do, who are the causes for them, as well as for yourselves, of an evil prejudice against the Just One and against us who have sprung from Him. For after you crucified that only blameless and just man, through whose wounds healing comes to those who through Him approach the Father, because you knew Him to have risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, as the prophecies declared would happen, you not only did not repent of the evils you had done, but [you sent forth choice men from Jerusalem throughout the world proclaiming that a certain godless heresy had arisen...]
B and spreading those things which all who are ignorant of us say against us. So that you are not only the cause of iniquity for yourselves, but also for all other men entirely; and rightly Isaiah cries: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” And: “Woe to their soul, because they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just one, because he is useless to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruits of their works. Woe to the lawless man; evil things shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.” And again in other places: “Woe to those who draw their sins as if with a long rope, and their iniquities as if with the thong of a heifer to a yoke; who say: Let his speed draw near, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” C Therefore, you have made it your business against that one blameless and just light sent by God to men, that bitter and dark and unjust crimes should be cast about in all the earth. For he seemed to you to be useless, crying out among you: “It is written: My house is a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you tithe mint and rue, but you do not consider the love of God and judgment. Whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones.” And to the scribes: “Woe to you, scribes, because you have the keys, and you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are entering, blind guides.” D
A 18. Since you have read, Trypho, and confessed that you have read, the things taught by that Savior of ours, I do not think I have done anything absurd to have added a few of His oracles to the prophetic ones. “Wash yourselves, therefore, and now be clean, and take away the iniquities from your souls,” as God commands, that you may wash with this washing and be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we would also observe this circumcision of the flesh, and the Sabbaths, and all the festivals generally, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined upon you—namely, on account of your iniquities and the hardness of your hearts. For if we consistently endure all that evil men and demons contrive to bring upon us, B even to the point—if I may speak of things unspeakable—of death and punishments, praying that mercy may be shown even to those who treat us thus, and wishing not to retaliate against anyone, not even in the slightest, as our new Legislator has commanded us; how, Trypho, should we not also observe those things which do not harm us—I mean fleshly circumcision and the Sabbaths and the festivals?
19. This is the point C on which we may rightly hesitate, why, while you endure such things, you do not also observe all the other things about which we are now inquiring.
For this circumcision is not necessary for all, but for you alone, so that, as I have said before, you might suffer those things which you now justly suffer. For we do not accept that useless baptism of the cisterns; for it is nothing in comparison to this baptism of life. Therefore God also cries out that you have forsaken Him, the living fountain, and have hewn out for yourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And you, indeed, who are circumcised in the flesh, have need of our circumcision; but we, having this, have no need of that one. For if it were necessary, as you think, God would not have fashioned Adam D with a foreskin, nor would He have regarded the gifts of Abel, who offered sacrifices while in the foreskin of his flesh, nor would Enoch have been well-pleasing while in uncircumcision and not be found, because God translated him. Lot, uncircumcised, escaped from Sodom, with the angels themselves and the Lord leading him out. Noah was the beginning of the race; yet, together with his sons, he entered the ark uncircumcised.
A It was an uncircumcised priest of the Most High, Melchizedek, to whom Abraham, the first to receive circumcision according to the flesh, gave tithes, and he blessed him. Concerning the order of this man, God declared through the mouth of David that He would appoint an eternal priest. To you alone, therefore, was this circumcision necessary, so that the people might not be a people, and the nation not a nation, B as Osea, one of the twelve prophets, says. For all the aforementioned righteous men, though they did not observe the Sabbath, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham and all his descendants up to Moses, under whom your people appeared unjust and ungrateful toward God, having fashioned the calf in the desert. Whence God, adapting Himself to that people, commanded also that sacrifices be offered as if to His name, so that you might not engage in idolatry; which indeed you did not observe, but even sacrificed your children to demons. C He commanded you also to keep the Sabbath, that you might have a remembrance of God. For His word signifies this, saying: "That you may know that I am the Lord who redeems you."
20. For He also commanded you to abstain from certain foods, so that even in eating and drinking you might have God before your eyes, being prone and ready to depart from the knowledge of Him, as Moses also says: "The people ate and drank, and rose up to play." And again: "Jacob ate and was satisfied, and became fat, D and the Beloved kicked; he became fat, he became thick, he became broad, and he abandoned God who made him." For that as to Noah it had been granted by God, being a righteous man, to eat every living thing, except flesh in blood, which is dead flesh, was related to you by Moses in the book of Genesis. And when he was about to say "as the green herbs," I anticipated: "That [as green herbs]..."
you might not hear 67 as it is said, 'do not hear.' That he punished this man—it is said—is eaten; that every herb is grass and is eaten by God, for as God had prepared the herbs for the food of man, so too had He given the animals for the eating of flesh? But since we do not eat some of the grasses, so too you say that a distinction was from then on prescribed to Noah. It is not to be believed as you interpret it. For first, because every herb is grass and is eaten [(68)], being able to say and to strengthen, I will not concern myself with this. But if we distinguish the herbs of the grass, not eating all, we do not refrain from eating them because they are common or unclean, but because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But we desire and partake of all the sweet and most nourishing and best, whether they be of the sea or of the land. So also God commanded you through Moses to abstain B from the unclean and unjust and lawless, since even while you were eating manna [(70)] in the desert and seeing all the miracles performed for you by God, you made a golden calf and worshipped it. So that He justly cries out unceasingly: 'Senseless sons; there is no faith in them.'"
21. C Sabbaths were instituted because of the sins of your people, and not as a work of justice. But that God ordered the Sabbath to be observed by you as a sign, as I have already said, and imposed other precepts, and what this signifies—that because of the nations, lest His name be profaned among them, He permitted some of you to remain alive entirely—His own words can demonstrate to you. For they are expressed through Ezekiel thus: "I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do not mingle with the customs of Egypt, and hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But you provoked me, and your children [(71)] did not walk in my statutes, and did not keep my judgments to do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them; but they profaned my Sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out my fury upon them in the
to complete my wrath upon them, and I did not, that my name might not be altogether profaned before the nations. I brought them out A in their sight. And I lifted my hand over them in the wilderness, to disperse them among the nations, and to scatter them into the countries, because they had not done my judgments, and had rejected my precepts, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after the thoughts of their fathers. And I gave them precepts that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live in them. And I will pollute them in their gifts, when I pass through, that I may destroy every one that openeth the womb. 22. And that you may perceive that, by reason of the sins of your people and the worship of idols, He gave a like command for these things to be done, not because He stood in need of such offerings, hear what He says concerning these things by Amos, one of the twelve, crying: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! Why this day of the Lord for you? And it is darkness and not light. As a man B flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him, and he enters his house and leans his hands on the wall, and the serpent bites him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom having no brightness for them? I have hated, I have rejected your festivals, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; because if you bring me your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, I will not accept them, and I will not look upon your saving manifestations. C Take away from me the multitude of your songs and psalms; I will not hear your instruments. And judgment shall roll down like water, and righteousness like a torrent that does not dry up. Did you offer me victims and sacrifices in the wilderness, O house of Israel? saith the Lord. And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the figures which you made for yourselves? And I will cause you to remove beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, God Almighty is his name. Woe to those who luxuriate in Sion, and who trust D in the mountain of Samaria! Who are named as leaders, they have harvested the first-fruits of the nations, having entered
A into their own house, 82 O Israel. Cross over, all of you, 83 to Chalanen, and see, and go thence to Amath the great, and descend thence to Geth of the foreigners, the strongest of all these kingdoms, if their borders are wider than your borders. They who approach the evil day, who draw near and take hold of lying sabbaths; who sleep on beds of ivory, and luxuriate upon their couches; who eat lambs from the flocks, and sucking calves from the midst of the herds; who applaud 84 to the sound of musical instruments; they reckoned them as standing, and not as fleeing; who drink wine in bowls 85 and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, but felt no pain at the ruin of Joseph. On this account, now B they shall be prisoners at the head of the leaders of those being led into exile 86, and the dwelling of evildoers shall be overturned, and the neighing of horses shall be taken away from Ephraim.” And again through Jeremiah: “Gather your flesh and your sacrifices, and eat. For I did not command your fathers concerning sacrifices or libations, in the day that I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” And again through David in the forty-ninth Psalm, he spoke thus: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its setting. Out of Sion is the beauty of his excellence. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall be kindled before him, and round about him a very great tempest. He shall call the heaven above, and the earth, to judge his people. Gather to him his holy ones, who confirm his covenant over sacrifices. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge. Hear, my people, and I will speak to you, O Israel, and will testify to you: I am God, your God. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices; and your burnt offerings are before me continually. I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks: for all the beasts of the field, the cattle on the mountains, and the oxen are mine. I have known all the birds of the heaven, and the beauty of the field 87 is with me. If I hunger,
I will not tell you; for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Most High your vows, and call upon me in the day of affliction, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” But to the sinner God said: “Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my covenant in your mouth? But you have hated instruction, and cast my words behind you. If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and set your portion with the adulterer. Your mouth has abounded with malice, and your tongue has woven deceits. You sat and spoke against your brother, and laid a stumbling-block against your mother's son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you imagined iniquity, that I shall be like you. I will reprove you, and set your sins before your face. Understand these things, you who forget God, A lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver. A sacrifice of praise will glorify me, and there is the way by which I will show him my salvation.” Therefore, he neither receives sacrifices from you, nor did he command them to be made from the beginning because he was in need, but because of your sins. For he acknowledged the temple which is called in Jerusalem as his house or court, not because he was in need of it, but so that, attending to him at least in this way, you might not worship idols. And that this is so, Isaiah says: “What house have you built for me? Says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.”
XXIII.
If we do not acknowledge these things as so, it will happen to us to fall into absurd thoughts: as if the same God did not exist B in the time of Enoch and of all the others, who neither had circumcision in the flesh, nor kept Sabbaths, nor did the other things which Moses ordered to be done; or as if he had not willed that the same righteousness be always practiced by every race of men—things which appear ridiculous and foolish to admit. But to admit that, for the sake of sinful men, the one who is the same has always commanded these and such-like things, is to show him to be philanthropic, and foreknowing, and needing nothing, and just, and good. But if these things are not so, answer me, O men, concerning what we are inquiring, what you think. And as no one answered, C for this reason, O Trypho, and for those who wish to become proselytes, I will proclaim the divine word which I heard from that man. Do you see that the elements do not have leisure, D nor do they keep the Sabbath? Remain as...you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of the keeping of Sabbaths, of feasts, and of sacrifices before Moses; so now, after the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has been born according to the will of the Father, A without sin, from the Virgin who was descended from the race of Abraham, there is no need of them either. For even Abraham himself, when he was uncircumcised, was justified and blessed on account of the faith which he had in God, as the Scripture points out. He received circumcision as a sign, but not for righteousness, as the Scriptures and the facts themselves compel us to confess. Therefore, it was justly said regarding that people that "that soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off from its race." Furthermore, the fact that the female sex is unable to receive fleshly circumcision is a proof that this circumcision was given as a sign, but not as a work of righteousness. For God created women B to be capable of observing all things that are just and virtuous in the same way as men. Yet we see that the form of the flesh is made different in the male and the female; but we do not perceive either of them to be just or unjust on that account, but rather on account of piety and righteousness.
C I was saying, gentlemen, that the eighth day possessed a certain mystery, proclaimed by God through these rites, which is greater than the seventh. But lest I should seem to wander into other subjects, understand what I cry out: the blood of that circumcision has been rendered obsolete, and we have believed in the saving blood; a new covenant is now here, and another law has gone forth from Sion. Jesus Christ circumcises all who desire it, as was proclaimed from of old, with knives of stone, so that there may be a righteous nation, a people keeping faith, laying hold of truth, and keeping peace. Come all of you, you who fear God, who desire to see the good things of Jerusalem. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He has released His people, the house of Jacob. Come, all you nations, let us gather together in Jerusalem, which is no longer D besieged because of the sins of the peoples. "For I have been manifested to those who did not seek Me; I have been found by those who did not ask for Me," He cries through Isaiah; "I said, Behold I am here, to nations that did not call upon My name. I have stretched out My hands all the day to a disobedient and gainsaying people."
B 25. These men desire to inherit even a little place, those who justify themselves and say they are the children of Abraham, as the Holy Spirit cries out through Isaiah, speaking as if from their own person as follows: "Turn from heaven, and look from the house of Thy holy One and of Thy glory. Where is Thy zeal and Thy strength? Where is the multitude of Thy mercy, for Thou hast endured us, O Lord? For Thou art our Father, for Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not remember us. But Thou, O Lord, our Father, deliver us: from the beginning Thy name is upon us. Why didst Thou make us go astray, O Lord, from Thy way? Thou didst harden our heart, so that we should not fear Thee. Turn for the sake of Thy servants, for the sake of the tribes of Thine inheritance, that we may inherit a little of Thy holy mountain. We have become as from the beginning, when Thou didst not rule over us, nor was Thy name called upon us. If Thou shalt open the heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from Thee, and they shall melt, as wax melts from the face of fire; and fire will consume the adversaries, and Thy name will be manifest among the adversaries: from Thy face the nations shall be troubled. When Thou doest glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains from Thee. From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God beside Thee. And Thy works, which Thou wilt do for those who repent, C mercy. It will meet those who perform righteousness, and they will remember Thy ways. Behold, Thou wast angry, and we sinned. For this reason we went astray and became all unclean, and all our righteousness is as a filthy garment; and we have faded as leaves because of our iniquities; even so the wind will carry us away; and there is no one who calls upon Thy name, and no one who remembers to take hold of Thee, because Thou hast turned Thy face from us, and hast delivered us up because of our sins. And now turn, O Lord, for we are all Thy people. The city of Thy holy One has become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem a curse; the house, our holy place, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has become burnt with fire; and all the glorious nations have fallen together. And upon these things didst Thou endure, O Lord, and didst keep silence, and didst humble us exceedingly."
A
And Trypho said: What then is this that you say? That none of us shall inherit anything in the holy mountain of God?
And I replied: I do not say this; but those who have persecuted and who persecute Christ, and who do not repent, shall inherit nothing in the holy mountain. But the nations that have believed in Him, and have repented of the sins which they committed, they shall inherit with the patriarchs and the prophets, and with all the just men who are descended from Jacob, even if they do not keep the Sabbath, are not circumcised, and do not observe the feasts. They shall surely inherit the holy inheritance of God. For God says through Isaiah thus: "I, the Lord God, have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thy hand, and will strengthen Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the bound from their bonds, and those sitting in darkness from the house of prison." And again: "Lift up a signal to the nations. For behold, the Lord has made it heard unto the end of the earth. Say to the daughters of Sion: Behold, thy Saviour has come, having His reward, and His work before His face; and He shall call him a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. And thou shalt be called a city sought after, and not forsaken. Who is this who comes from Edom, with the redness of his garments from Bosor? This one is beautiful in his robe, ascending with might and strength. I speak justice and judgment of salvation. Why are thy garments red, and thy apparel as if from a trodden winepress? Full of the trampled fruit. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there is no man with me; and I have trodden them in my wrath, and have crushed them as the earth, and have brought down their blood to the earth. B For the day of retribution has come upon them, and the year of redemption is present. And I looked, and there was no helper; and I considered, and no one offered aid. And my own arm rescued, and my wrath came upon them; and I have trodden them in my anger, and I have brought down their blood to the earth." [125 C]
27. Why dost Thou select from the prophetic discourses what pleases Thee, while Thou makest no mention of those which explicitly command the keeping of the Sabbath? For it is said thus through Isaiah: "If thou shalt turn away thy foot from the Sabbaths, so as not to do thy desire in the holy day, and shalt call the Sabbaths delicate, holy to thy God; if thou shalt not move thy foot D for work, nor speak a word out of thy mouth...
and thou shalt be confident in the Lord, and he shall lift thee up upon the good things of the earth; and he shall feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. A Then I said: "It is not because such prophecies contradict me, my friends, that I have passed them by, but because you have perceived and understood that even if God, through all the prophets, commands you to do the same things that he also commanded through Moses, he does so because of your hard-heartedness, and your ingratitude toward him, always calling for the same things, so that by this means, even if late, you might repent and please him; and that you might neither sacrifice your children to demons, nor be partners with thieves, nor continue loving B bribes, nor chasing after rewards, nor judging the orphans, nor giving attention to the cause of the widow, and furthermore, that your hands might not be full of blood. 'For the daughters of Zion walked with a stretched-out neck, and with winking of eyes, at the same time sporting and dragging their garments. For all have turned aside,' cries the Scripture, 'all are altogether become unprofitable. There is none that understands, there is not so much as one. With their tongues they have dealt deceitfully, an open grave is their throat; the poison of asps is under their lips, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known.' C So, just as these things were originally commanded because of your wickedness, in the same way, because of your perseverance in these things—or rather, your persistence—God calls you through the same things to remembrance of him and to knowledge. But you, a hard-hearted and foolish people, and blind and lame, and children in whom there is no faith, as he himself says, are those who honor him only with your lips, while your heart is far from him, teaching your own doctrines and not his. For, tell me, did God wish the chief priests to sin by offering the sacrifices on the Sabbaths? Or did he wish those who are circumcised and who circumcise on the day of the Sabbath to sin, while he commands that those born on the eighth day must in any case be circumcised likewise, even if it be the day of the Sabbath? Or could he not have empowered them to circumcise those born one day before or one day after the Sabbath, if he considered it a sin to do so on the Sabbath? D Or why did he not teach those righteous men who were called such before Moses and Abraham, and who were acceptable to him, to observe these things, since they were neither circumcised in the foreskin, nor did they observe the Sabbaths?"
28. Then Trypho said: "Then we have heard from you that justice is acquired through Christ."
A And we have pondered this; for it is truly a matter worthy of consideration, and what seems to the many to be said by you, namely that it is God's will. For this is always the refuge of those who are unable to answer what is being investigated.
And I: Since I draw my method of demonstration and discourse from the Scriptures and from the facts themselves, I said, do not delay, nor hesitate to believe an uncircumcised man like me. This short time of proselytizing remains for you. If Christ should happen to come, you will repent in vain, you will weep in vain; for He will not hear you. "Break up for yourselves B new ground," Jeremiah cries to the people, "and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart." Therefore, do not sow among thorns and in unplowed ground, from which there is no fruit for you. Know Christ, and behold, there is new ground, beautiful and fertile within your hearts. "For behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will visit upon all who are circumcised in their foreskin; upon Egypt, and upon Judah, C and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts." Do you see how God does not desire this circumcision which was given as a sign? For it is not useful to the Egyptians, nor to the sons of Moab, nor to the sons of Edom. But even if someone is a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the eternal righteous laws, he is circumcised with the beautiful and useful circumcision, and he is a friend to God, D and he rejoices in His gifts and offerings. I shall also provide for you, my friends, the very words of God, when He spoke to the people through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets. They are as follows: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not receive your sacrifices from your hands; because from the rising of the sun even to the setting, My name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place a sacrifice is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice; because My name is honored among the nations, says the Lord; but you profaned it." And through David He says: "A people whom I did not
know served Me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed Me." A
29. Let us glorify God together with the gathered nations, because He has looked upon us also. Let us glorify Him through the King of glory, through the Lord of hosts. For He has been well pleased with the nations as well, and receives sacrifices from us more gladly than from you. What need then have I any longer of circumcision, I who have been attested by God? What need have I of that baptism, I who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I think that by saying these things I shall persuade even those who possess but little understanding. For these words are not contrived by me, nor adorned by human art, but David chanted them, Isaiah evangelized them, Zechariah B proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them down. Do you recognize them, Trypho? They are laid up in your scriptures, or rather, not yours, but ours. For we believe them, but you, though you read them, do not understand the mind within them. Do not, therefore, be vexed, nor reproach us with the foreskin of the body, which God Himself created; nor count it a grievous sin that we drink warm water on the Sabbath, since God governs the universe in the same way on this day as on all other days; as also the high priests, as on other days, so also on this day were commanded to perform the offering of sacrifices; and so many just men, having practiced none of these legal requirements, have been attested by God Himself. C
30. But do not ascribe to your own righteousness that God can be slandered by men who are lacking in understanding, as if He had not always taught the same righteousness to all. For to many men such teachings seemed irrational and unworthy of God, because they did not receive the grace to know that He called your people, who were acting wickedly and suffering from a disease of the soul, to conversion and repentance of the Father, and He is eternal D after the death of Moses.
And this has been declared through the psalm, O men. And that we confess them to be sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, having been made wise by them, is evident from the fact that we remain unswerving to His name even unto death. And that we who believe in Him pray to Him that He may preserve us from those who are foreign—that is, from the wicked and deceitful spirits—is evident to all, as the prophetic word, forming for itself the persona of one of those who believe in Him, states. For we beseech God always, through Jesus Christ, to be preserved A from the demons, which are foreign to the worship of God, whom formerly we worshipped, so that after we have been converted to God through Him, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer; even the demons tremble at the power of His name, and today, when exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, they are subject; from which it is clear to all that the Father has given Him such power that even the demons are subject to His name and to the economy of His suffering.
31.
But if such power is shown to have followed and to follow the economy of Christ's suffering, how great will it be in His glorious coming?
For He shall come as the Son of Man above the clouds, as Daniel signified, with angels arriving with Him. Now these are the words of Daniel: "I was looking until the thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat, having a garment as white as snow, and the hair of His head as pure wool. His throne was as a flame of fire, His wheels a burning fire. A river of fire was drawn, flowing from His presence. Thousand thousands were serving Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. Books were opened, and the judgment sat. I was looking then at the voice of the great words which the horn speaks, and the beast was beaten to death, and its body was destroyed and given for the burning of fire. And the rest of the beasts were removed from their dominion, and a time of life was given to the beasts until a season and time. I was looking in the vision of the night, B and behold with the clouds of heaven as a Son of Man coming;—and He came even unto the Ancient of Days, and stood before Him. And to Him was given the kingdom, the honor, and the power, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him; His power is an eternal power which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed." C And that Justin could claim the eternal law went forth under Moses, although he himself confesses below in no. 45 that in this law are prescribed not only those things which were instituted for the hardness of heart, but also those which by nature are noble, pious, and just? When Justin passed on the law of Moses, whether the precepts of the Decalogue or others prescribed for hardness of heart or for the pre-signification of future things, he considered the letter to be death-dealing, as it was written on stone tablets, and not in the hearts by the Holy Spirit, who diffuses love. D In this very place he repeats the distinction between Jews and Christians, that Christians consider the judgments of the Lord sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, and acknowledge the name of God even if death is set before them, not indeed by their own strength, but by being converted to God through Christ, and calling Him Helper and Redeemer, at whose name even the demons tremble, and by the name of Jesus Christ, when adjured, are subject. Augustine agrees wonderfully with Justin, who demonstrates in his book *De spiritu et litera* at greater length: "The law, from which the Apostle says no one is justified, is to be understood not only in those sacraments which had promissory figures, but also in those works which, whoever does, lives justly, where is also that, 'You shall not covet.'" n. 23.(26) *And through the psalm.* For the sake of brevity, either by Justin or by the scribes, the psalm *The heavens declare* was omitted. For Justin explains some things from this psalm as if he had already recited it, as anyone reading will be able to notice. *Soon read.* (27) *The formula of prayer of this kind occurs in Apost. Const., bk. viii, ch. 11.*
A and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like unto the Son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and stood before him; and they that stood by brought him near. And there was given to him power and royal dignity; and all nations of the earth, by their kinds, and all glory shall serve him. And his power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit shuddered within me, and the visions of my head troubled me. And I went up to one of them that stood by, and I sought the exact truth from him concerning all these things. He answering me, said, and explained to me the judgment of the words: These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I desired to know exactly concerning the fourth beast, which destroys all things and is exceedingly terrible, and its teeth were of iron, and its claws of brass; eating and grinding to powder, and trampling the residue with its feet; and concerning its ten horns that were on its head, and of the one that came up, through which three of the former fell. And that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great words, and its appearance excelled the others. And I was beholding that horn making B war with the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and he gave judgment to the saints of the Most High; and the time arrived, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: A fourth kingdom shall be on the earth, which shall excel all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and lay it waste, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise after them; and this one shall excel in wickedness those who were before them, and shall humble three kings, and shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush other saints of the Most High, C and shall purpose to alter seasons and times. And they shall be delivered into his hand until a time and times and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall remove the dominion to consume and to destroy unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the places of the kingdoms under heaven, was given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign with an everlasting kingdom; and all powers shall be subject to him, and shall obey him. Hitherto is the end of the word. I, Daniel, was greatly disturbed in my ecstasy, and the word changed in me, and I kept the speech in my heart.»
32. And Trypho, when I had ceased, said: These Scriptures, O man, and such as these, await the great and glorious one who is to come from the Ancient of days. 32. Trypho, on my ceasing, objects that Christ is described as glorious by Daniel, and Justin distinguishes two advents. — Here Trypho, when I was silent, said: These, D he said...
A And other Scriptures of this kind compel us to expect one who is glorious and great, who receives the eternal kingdom from the Ancient of Days as the Son of man. But that Christ of yours, whom you so call, was dishonored and inglorious, so that he even fell under the ultimate curse which is sanctioned in the law of God. For he was crucified.
Then I said to him: If the Scriptures which I have already recited did not say that his form would be inglorious and his lineage inexpressible, and that the rich would be put to death for his death, and that we have been healed by his stripes, and that he would be led as a sheep; if I had not explained that there would be two advents of his, one in which he was pierced by you, and a second B when you will recognize him whom you pierced, and your tribes will lament, tribe by tribe, the women apart and the men apart; I would seem to be saying obscure and uncertain things. But now, in every discourse, I am constructing the entire method of demonstration from the holy and prophetic Scriptures that are among you, hoping that some one of you may be found as a seed which, through the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth, has been left for eternal salvation. Therefore, so that now the subject of our inquiry may become clearer to you, I will bring forward also other words uttered by that blessed man David; from which you will understand that Christ is called Lord by the holy prophetic Spirit, and is summoned by the Father of all from the earth, and is seated at his right hand, until the Father makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. Which indeed is coming to pass from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, with the times running to their completion, and with him being already at the doors C who is about to speak impious and daring things against the Highest; whom Daniel declares will rule for a time and times and half a time. But you, ignorant of how long he is to remain, think something else. For you interpret the "time" as one hundred years. But if this is so, the man of iniquity must reign for three hundred and fifty years at the minimum, so that what was said by the holy Daniel, "and times," we might number as only two times. But I have said all these things, digressing from my purpose, to you, so that, having at length believed the things that are spoken against you by God—namely, that you are foolish children, and also these words: "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them; D and I will take away the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of their prudent ones will I hide";—you may cease to lead astray both yourselves and those who listen to you, and, by learning from us who have been made wise by the grace of Christ,
you will understand the words of David. A They are as follows: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power from Sion: and do you rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints. From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at your right hand has crushed kings in the day of his wrath; he shall judge among the nations, he shall fill with corpses. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head.”
33. That you dare to explain this Psalm as being said of king Hezekiah, I am not ignorant, as I have said; but that you are in error, I will straightway demonstrate to you from the very words. It is said: “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent”; and, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” together with what follows and what precedes it. B That Hezekiah was neither a priest, nor is the eternal priest of God, you yourselves will not dare to gainsay; but that these words indicate that it has been spoken about our Jesus, the words themselves declare; but your ears are stopped and your hearts are hardened. For by these words: “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” God, because of your unbelief, by interposing an oath, has declared him to be a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek; that is, in the same way as Melchizedek is written by Moses to have been priest of the Most High, C and he was a priest of those in uncircumcision, and blessed Abraham, who brought him tithes while in circumcision, so likewise God declared that His eternal priest, who is also called Lord by the Holy Spirit, would be a priest of those in uncircumcision; and that those in circumcision who draw near to him—that is, those who believe in him and seek the blessings from him—he will also receive, and will bless them. And that he will first be a humble man, and then shall be exalted, D the end of the psalm shows: “For he shall drink of the brook in the way,” and at once, “therefore shall he lift up the head.”
34. Furthermore, to persuade you that the Scriptures speak of Christ being first humble, and then to be futurely glorious, this Psalm is shown.
A And I will remind you of another psalm, dictated by the Holy Spirit to David, which you say was spoken of Solomon, who was also your king; but it has been spoken of our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by ambiguous B terms; for where it is said, “The law of the Lord is perfect,” you understand not the law which was to be after Moses, but that which was given through him, although God cries out that He will institute a new law and a new covenant. And where it is said, “O God, give thy judgment to the King,” C because Solomon was king, you say that the psalm was spoken of him, although the words of the psalm plainly declare that it was issued for the eternal King, that is, for Christ. For Christ is proclaimed as King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and Angel, and man, and leader of the army, and stone, and child born, and first subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and having an eternal kingdom; as I demonstrate from all the Scriptures. But that you may understand what I say, I will recite the words of the psalm, which are as follows: “O God, give thy judgment to the King, and thy righteousness to the King's son; D to judge thy people in righteousness and thy poor in judgment. Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the children of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer; and he shall remain with the sun and before the moon unto generations of generations. He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like drops falling upon the earth. In his days shall righteousness arise, and abundance of peace, until the moon be removed. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the world. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him, and all nations shall serve him; for he hath delivered the needy from the mighty, and the poor who had no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the poor. He shall redeem their souls from usury and iniquity; and his name shall be honorable before them. And he shall live, and there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray for him continually; all the day shall they bless him. And there shall be a resting-place in the earth: he shall be exalted above the tops of the mountains; his fruit shall be above Libanus, and they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth. His name shall be blessed for ever; his name continues before the sun; and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who doeth wondrous things alone. And blessed be the name of his glory for ever and for the age of the age; and all the earth shall be filled with his glory: so be it, so be it.” And at the end
of this psalm of which I spoke, it is written: “The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have come to an end.” A And that Solomon was an illustrious and great king, under whom the house called of Jerusalem was built, I know; but that none of the things mentioned in the psalm happened to him, is clear. For not all kings worshipped him, nor did he reign to the ends of the earth, nor did his enemies falling before him lick the dust. Nay, I even dare to speak of things written in the Books of Kings B as having been done by him, namely that for the sake of a woman he worshipped Sidonian idols; which those who from the Gentiles have recognized the Creator of all things, God, through Jesus who was crucified, are by no means induced to do, but rather endure every affliction and punishment even unto the extreme of death, so as not to worship idols nor to eat things sacrificed to idols.
35. C And Trypho: “Yet of those,” he says, “who claim to confess Jesus, and are called Christians, I hear that many eat things sacrificed to idols, and claim that they are not harmed by this at all.”
Then I answered: “From the fact that such men exist, confessing themselves to be Christians and confessing the crucified Jesus as both Lord and Christ, but not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, we who are the disciples of the true and pure teaching of Jesus Christ are the more D faithful and confirmed in the hope announced by Him. For what He predicted would come to pass in His name, these things we see and behold being accomplished in action. For He said: ‘Many shall come in my name, outwardly clothed in sheep's skins, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’ And: ‘There shall be schisms and heresies.’ And: ‘Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you, outwardly clothed in sheep's skins, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’ And: ‘Many false christs and false apostles shall arise,
A and shall deceive many of the faithful.’ There are therefore, and there came to be, O men who are my friends, many who taught to say and to do things godless and blasphemous, coming in the name of Jesus; and they are called by us by the names of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion began. (For some in one way, others in another, teach blasphemy against the Maker of all things, and against the Christ who was predicted by Him B to come, and [against] the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; with none of whom do we communicate, knowing them to be atheists and impious, and unjust and lawless, and that instead of worshipping Jesus, they only confess Him in name. And they call themselves Christians, in the same way as those among the Gentiles who inscribe the name of God upon works made by hand, and partake C of lawless and godless rituals.) And there are some of them called Marcians, others Valentinians, others Basilidians, others Satornilians, and others [called] by other names, each being named from the author of their opinion; just as each of those who think they are philosophizing, as I said in the beginning, thinks it appropriate to bear the name of the philosophy they follow, [derived] from the father of the discourse. As also from these, as I said, we know Jesus to be the foreknower of things that would come to pass after Him, and [we know Him as such] from many other things which He predicted would happen to those who believe and confess Him as Christ. For indeed, all that we suffer, being put to death by our own kindred, He predicted would happen to us, so that in no way could His word or deed be found blameworthy. Therefore, we also pray for you and for all other men who hate us D that, by repenting along with us, you may not blaspheme Him who, by His works and by the miracles even now performed through the invocation of His name, and by the sermons of His doctrine and His prophecies, is shown to be [the Christ].
you do not openly revile; but, by believing in Him, you might be saved at his future glorious appearing, and not be condemned by Him to the fire.
36. Then Trypho answered: B Let these things be as you say; let it be granted that Christ was called a Stone, and that it was predicted that He would be passible, and that after His first coming, in which the oracles had foretold He would appear passible, He would return in glory, and would henceforth be the judge of all, and an eternal King and Priest. But prove that this is He of whom these things were predicted.
I said: As you please, Trypho, I shall come in time and place to the demonstrations you ask for; but allow me for now to first mention the prophecies I wish, to demonstrate that the Christ is called both God and Lord of powers, and Jacob, by the Holy Spirit in a parable; and that your expositors, as God cries out, are foolish, saying that these things were not spoken of Christ, but of Solomon, when he brought the tabernacle of witness into the temple which he had built. C This is the Psalm of David: "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is innocent in hands and pure in heart; who has not received his soul in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully to his neighbor; he shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek the Lord, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in war. Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory." That the Lord of powers, therefore, is not Solomon, has been demonstrated; but when our Christ D had risen from the dead and was ascending into heaven, the princes in the heavens, ordained by God, were commanded to open the gates of heaven,
A that He might enter, He who is the King of Glory, and having ascended, might sit at the right hand of the Father, until He makes His enemies a footstool for His feet, as has been declared by the other psalm. For since those who are rulers in heaven saw Him having an uncomely and dishonored appearance and lacking glory, not recognizing Him, they inquired: "Who is this King of Glory?" And the Holy Spirit answers them, either from the person of the Father or from His own: "The Lord of Hosts, He Himself is this King of Glory." For that no one who was stationed at the gates of the temple of Jerusalem would have dared to say, "Who is this King of Glory?", either concerning Solomon, who was so glorious a king, or concerning the tabernacle of testimony, any person whatsoever would admit.
57. The same is proved by other psalms. — But in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth psalm, these things are said concerning Christ: "God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing praises: sing praises to our King, sing praises: for God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God has reigned over the nations; God sits upon His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham, for the mighty ones of the earth have been greatly exalted of God." And in the ninety-eighth psalm, the Holy Spirit B rebukes you, and declares that He whom you do not wish to be King, is King and Lord and is so absolutely over Samuel and Aaron and Moses and all the others. And the words of the psalm are these: "The Lord has reigned; let the peoples be angry; He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them confess to Thy great name, for it is terrible and holy; and the honor of the king loves judgment. Thou hast prepared directions; Thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet, for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called (says the Scripture) upon the Lord, and He heard them; in a pillar of cloud C He spoke to them. For they kept His testimonies and the commandment which He gave them. O Lord our God, Thou didst hear them; O God, Thou didst become propitious to them and taking vengeance on all their devices. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy."
38. It is offensive to a Jew that Christ is said to be worshipped. Justin confirms this from Psalm XLIV. Here Trypho said: "It would be well for us, if we D yielded to our teachers who commanded us that no one of you should converse with us, nor share in such arguments—
A for you speak many blasphemous things, claiming to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of a cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, ascended into heaven, and will come again B to the earth, and is to be adored."
I replied: "I know that, as the word of God has said, this great wisdom of the Creator of all things and of the almighty God is hidden from you. Therefore, moved by compassion for you, I labor to make you understand these paradoxes of ours; if not, so that at least I myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear C yet other arguments that seem even more paradoxical; but be not troubled, but rather remain the more eager listeners and investigators, despising the tradition of your teachers; for they are rebuked by the Holy Spirit because they cannot understand what is taught by God, but rather choose to teach their own doctrines. In the forty-fourth Psalm, therefore, it is likewise said concerning D Christ these things: 'My heart has brought forth a good word: I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer in beauty than the sons of men; grace is poured out on thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Mighty One. In thy splendor and thy beauty, bend thy bow, and prosper, and reign, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall guide thee wondrously. Thy arrows are sharpened, O Mighty One; peoples shall fall under thee, in the heart of the enemies of the King. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Myrrh and aloes and cassia are from thy garments, from ivory palaces, out of which they have gladdened thee. Daughters of kings are in thy honor. The queen stood at thy right hand, in clothing of gold, surrounded and adorned. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people, and thy father's house;
and the King will desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and they shall worship him. And the daughter of Tyre with gifts. The rich of the people shall entreat thy face. All the glory of the daughter of the King is from within, clothed in gold-woven fringes, adorned. Virgins shall be brought to the King after her; her companions shall be brought to thee. They shall be brought in gladness and exultation: they shall be brought into the temple of the King. Instead of thy fathers, thy sons were born; thou shalt make them princes over all the earth. I will remember thy name in every generation and generation; therefore the peoples shall give thee thanks for ever and ever. A
39. And it is no wonder, B if you hate us who understand these things, and convict your mind which is always hard-hearted. For Elijah, pleading with God regarding you, says thus: "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." And it is answered to him: "There are yet with me seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Just as, therefore, God did not bring down his wrath then on account of those seven thousand, so also now he has not yet brought, nor does he bring, the judgment, since he knows that some are still being daily discipled into the name of his Christ, and are leaving the path of error; who also receive gifts, each as they are worthy, being illuminated through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of wisdom, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, another of the fear of God. C
To this Trypho said to me: I would have you know that you are talking nonsense when you say these things.
But I said to him: Listen, my good sir, I am neither insane nor talking nonsense. But it was predicted that it would come to pass that Christ, after he had ascended into heaven, would lead us captive from error, and give gifts to us. The words themselves are these: "He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men." We, therefore, having received gifts from Christ who ascended on high—[we] show you, "who are wise in yourselves and prudent before yourselves," from the prophetic words, to be foolish, and to honor God and his Christ only with your lips. But we, who are instructed in all truth, honor him both in works and in knowledge and in heart, even unto death. Perhaps it is also for this reason that you doubt this, even as [he is] declared
A to be the Christ by the Scriptures, and by the things that appear and the things which happen in his name, so that you may not be persecuted by the rulers, who will not cease from the operation of the wicked and deceitful B spirit, the serpent, putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ, until he shall again be present, and shall destroy all, and render to each according to his worth.
And Trypho said: "Now therefore grant us the argument, that this one, whom thou sayest was crucified and ascended into heaven, is the Christ of God. For that the Christ is preached in the Scriptures as passible, and that he is to come again with glory, and to receive an eternal kingdom of all nations, with every kingdom subject to him, has been sufficiently demonstrated from the Scriptures already recited by thee; but that he is this one, demonstrate to us."
And I said: "It has been demonstrated already, O men, to those who have ears, even from the things admitted by you; but that you may not think that I am at a loss and unable to give the demonstrations for what you request, I shall do so in the appropriate place, as I promised; but for the present, I return to the continuation of the arguments I was making.
40. The mystery, therefore, of the lamb which God enjoined C to be sacrificed as the Passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, according to the word of faith in him, those who believe in him anoint their houses, that is, themselves. For that the formation, which God fashioned—namely, Adam—became the house of the breath from God, all of you can understand. And that this commandment was also temporary, I demonstrate thus: nowhere does God permit the lamb of the Passover to be sacrificed, except in the place where his name has been invoked; knowing that days would come after the suffering of Christ, when even the place of Jerusalem would be delivered to your enemies, and all offerings D whatsoever would cease; and that the lamb which was commanded to be roasted whole was a symbol of the passion of the cross, by which Christ was about to suffer. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted arranged in the form of the cross. For one spit is thrust through from the lower parts up to the head, and another again across the shoulders, to which also the hands of the lamb are attached.
A And those two goats similarly prescribed to be offered during the fast, of which one was sent away and the other was offered, were a proclamation of the two comings of Christ: the one in which your elders and the priests led him away as a scapegoat, laid hands upon him, and put him to death; and indeed that of his second coming, because in that same place B in Jerusalem you will recognize him whom you treated with contempt, and he was an offering for all sinners who desire to repent, and for those who observe that fast which Isaiah mentions, by loosening the knots of violent contracts, and observing the other things similarly enumerated by him, which I also recounted, which those who believe in Jesus observe. And you know that the offering of the two goats which were commanded to be offered in the fast was never permitted to be carried out anywhere else but in Jerusalem.
41. And the offering of fine flour, sirs, I said, which was handed down to be offered for those who were being cleansed from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, which Jesus Christ our Lord handed down to us to perform in remembrance of the passion which he suffered for those who were being purged of their souls from all wickedness of men, C so that we might at the same time give thanks to God, both for having created the world and all things in it for the sake of man, and for having delivered us from the wickedness in which we were born, and for having destroyed the principalities and powers completely, through him who by his will became susceptible to suffering. Hence, concerning the sacrifices which at that time were offered by you, God says, as I have already said, through Malachi, one of the twelve: «My pleasure is not in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands; for from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord; but you profane it.» D Concerning the sacrifices offered to him in every place by us who are Gentiles, that is, of the bread of the Eucharist and of the cup likewise of the Eucharist, he in that place predicts, having also said that we glorify his name, but that you profane it. Now that command of circumcision, ordering that infants be circumcised on the eighth day without exception, was a type of the true circumcision by which we have been circumcised from error and wickedness through him who
rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Jesus Christ our Lord. For the first day of the week, remaining the first of all the days, is called the eighth according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and yet remains the first.
42. A But furthermore, the fact that the twelve bells hung from the long robe of the high priest were a symbol of the twelve apostles who were set on fire by the power of the eternal priest, Christ, by whose voice the whole earth was filled with the glory and grace of God and of his Christ—this was a symbol. Therefore David also says: "Into all the earth their sound has gone out, and their words to the ends of the world" (Ps. xviii, 5). And Isaiah, as if representing the apostles saying to Christ that they do not believe by their own hearing, but by the power of him who sent them—therefore he says thus: B "Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have announced before him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land," and the rest of the prophecy that has been foretold (Isa. liii, 1). Now, the word saying as if from the mouth of many, "We have announced before him," and adding, "as a child," is indicative of the fact that those who became his wicked subjects were made to serve his command, and all became as one child. This is also what can be seen in the case of the body; C for though many members are numbered, the whole is called and is one body. For a people and a church, though they are many in number as individuals, are called and addressed by one name as if they were one thing. And all the other, absolute, things, O men, I said, which were ordained by Moses, I can enumerate and demonstrate to be types and symbols and proclamations of those things which were to happen to Christ, and of those who were foreknown to believe in him, and of those things which were likewise to be done by Christ himself. D But since I have already enumerated enough to suffice for the present, I shall move on to the next point in order.
43. As, therefore, from Abraham circumcision began, and from Moses the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings...
and feasts, and it was proved that these were ordained because of the hardness of the heart of your people, A so it was necessary that they should come to an end according to the will of the Father, in Him who was born of a Virgin of the lineage of Abraham, and of the tribe of Judah, and of the seed of David, namely the Son of God, Christ; who was also the eternal law and the new covenant that was to be proclaimed to the whole world, as the previously cited prophecies indicate. And we, who through Him have drawn near to God, have not received this circumcision of the flesh, but the spiritual B one, which Enoch and those like him kept; and this we have obtained through baptism, through the mercy of God, because we had been sinners, and it is permitted to all to obtain it in the same way. But since the discussion now urges me to speak of the mystery of His birth, I will do so. Isaiah, therefore, asserted that the generation of Christ Himself was indescribable to men, as we have already written: "Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth: for the iniquities of My people He was led to death." Since, then, this generation was indescribable and He was to die, that we sinful men might be healed by His stripes, the prophetic Spirit spoke these words. C Furthermore, in order that those who believe in Him might know in what manner He was born into the world, the prophetic Spirit, through the same Isaiah, prophesied how it would come to pass, in these words: "And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz, saying: Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And Isaiah said: Hear now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to contend with men? And how do you contend with the Lord? Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat, before He knows or chooses the evil, and chooses D the good; for before the child knows good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good. For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. And the land shall be taken, which thou shalt suffer wearily from the face of the two kings. But God will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not yet come upon thee, from the day that He took Ephraim from Judah, the king of the Assyrians."
That it is manifest to all that no one in the lineage of Abraham according to the flesh has ever been born, or said to have been born, of a virgin, except this Christ of ours, is evident. But since you and your teachers dare to say that it is not even said in the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, the Virgin shall have in the womb," but rather, "Behold, the young woman shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son," and you interpret the prophecy as if it were spoken of Hezekiah, who was your king, I shall endeavor to explain briefly against you, even in this matter, and to prove that it is spoken of Him whom we confess to be Christ.
44. For I will so prove it, that I shall exert myself to persuade you. But if you, remaining hard-hearted, or weak B of mind because of the death ordained for Christians, do not wish to assent to the truth, you yourselves will be to blame. And you deceive yourselves, supposing that because you are the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, you will by all means inherit the good things which have been announced by God to be given through Christ. For not even those of that seed can obtain anything, except those who have been assimilated in mind to the faith of Abraham, and who have known all the mysteries; I mean that one commandment was ordained unto piety and the practice of justice, while another commandment and act was likewise prescribed—or rather spoken—as a mystery of Christ, because of the hard-heartedness C of your people. And that this is so, God, declaring himself regarding this in Ezekiel, said: "If Noah and Jacob and Daniel should ask for either sons or daughters, they shall not be given to them." And in... [alt-version omitted] D
A Isaiah, he speaks to this same effect, saying: "The Lord God said: And they shall go forth, and shall see the members of the transgressing men. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." Since, therefore, you are cutting this hope from your souls, it is necessary that you hasten to learn the way by which the remission of your sins shall come to you, and the hope of the inheritance of the promised good things. And there is no other way than this: that by acknowledging this Christ, and being washed by the bath for the remission of sins which was preached by Isaiah, you may henceforth live without sin.
45. B And Trypho: "Although I seem to interrupt when you are discoursing on necessary matters, yet, because the question I wish to pose is urgent, bear with me first."
I: "Ask whatever you please, as it comes to your mind; for I will endeavor to resume and complete my discourse even after the questions and answers."
He: "Tell me then," he said, "will those who lived according to the law ordained through Moses live, in the resurrection of the dead, like Jacob and Enoch and Noah, or not?"
I said to him: "When I brought forward, Trypho, what was said by Ezekiel: 'Even if Noah, Daniel, and Jacob should ask for sons and daughters, it shall by no means be granted to them,' but that everyone shall be saved by his own righteousness, I said that those also who have lived according to the law of Moses will be saved in like manner. For in the C law of Moses, those things which are by nature noble and pious and just are ordained to be done by those who obey them; and likewise it is recorded that those things which were enjoined to be observed on account of the hardness of the people’s hearts were also prescribed, which those under the law indeed did. Since those who did the things which are universally and by nature and eternally good are acceptable to God, they will be saved through this Christ in the resurrection just as those righteous ones who were before them, Noah and Enoch and Jacob, and any others there may have been, along with those who have acknowledged this Christ D the Son of God, who was even before the morning star and the moon, and who through the
power of this Virgin of the lineage of David, condescended to become flesh and be born, that by this dispensation the serpent who acted wickedly from the beginning, and the angels who were made like him, might be overthrown, and death might be despised, and—at the second coming of this very Christ—might be completely brought to an end in those who believe in him and live well-pleasing lives, existing no longer when some shall be sent into the judgment and condemnation of fire to be punished without end, but others shall dwell in a state of A impassibility, incorruption, freedom from sorrow, and immortality.
46. If there are those who even now wish to live observing the things handed down by Moses, and yet believe in this crucified Jesus, acknowledging that he is the Christ of God, and that to him it has been given to judge all men absolutely, and that his is the eternal kingdom, can even they be saved? he asked me.
And I again: Let us also consider whether it is possible, I said, to observe all the things handed down by Moses now.
And he answered: No. For we acknowledge, as you said, that it is impossible to sacrifice the lamb of the Passover elsewhere, nor to offer the he-goats ordered to be offered during the fast, nor all the other offerings in general.
And I: What, then, are those things that it is possible to observe, I pray you, tell me yourself; for you will be persuaded that anyone who does not observe or perform the eternal statutes B will surely fail of salvation for certain.
And he: I mean keeping the Sabbath, and being circumcised, and observing the months, and washing oneself if one has touched anything forbidden by Moses, or has had sexual intercourse.
And I said: But Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Noah, and Job, and whatever other righteous men there were before or after them—I speak also of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, and Rachel, the wife of Jacob, and Leah, and the other remaining women such as these, down to the mother of Moses, the faithful servant—did they not observe any of these things, and do they seem to you to have been saved?
And Trypho answered: Was not Abraham circumcised, and those after him? C
D
I answered, "I know, I say, that Abraham and those who came after him were circumcised. But I have A already discussed in many places why circumcision was given to them, and if what I said does not move you, let us examine the matter again. You know that not one of the righteous men down to Moses observed any of those things we were just asking about, nor did they receive a commandment to observe them, except for the circumcision which took its beginning from Abraham." And he said: "We know that, and we confess that they are saved."
I, again, said: "Consider that all such commandments were given to you by God through Moses on account of the hardness of the heart of your people, so that you, being reminded by these many things, might always have God before your eyes in every action, and might not begin to act unjustly or impiously. For indeed, he commanded you to put on a scarlet thread, so that through this you might not be seized by forgetfulness of B God; and he ordered that you wear a phylactery, having certain characters inscribed on very thin membranes, which we indeed understand to be altogether holy, inciting you by these things as well to always keep God in memory, and at the same time reproaching you, because you had no memory of worshipping him. And yet, not even so were you persuaded not to worship idols; but in the time of Elijah, when he counted the number of those who had not bowed the knee to Baal, he said they were seven thousand in number; and in Isaiah, he rebukes you because you even sacrificed your children to idols. But we, so that we may not sacrifice to those to whom we formerly sacrificed, endure the extreme punishments, and we rejoice while we are being put to death; believing that God will raise us up through his Christ, and will make us incorruptible and passionless C and immortal, and we know that those things which were ordained because of the hardness of the heart of your people contribute nothing toward the observation of justice and piety."
47. And Trypho again: "But if anyone, knowing that these things are so, besides knowing that this is the Christ, and believing and obeying him, wishes also to observe these institutions, will he be saved?" he asked.
And I said: "As it seems to me, O Trypho, I say that such a one will be saved, if he does not strive to persuade other men—I mean those from the Gentiles who have been circumcised from error through Christ—to observe the same things as he does, saying that they will not be saved unless they observe these things; just as you did at the beginning of our discourse, when you declared that I would not be saved D unless I observed these things."
A And he said: "Why then did you say, 'As it seems to me, such a one will be saved,' unless there are those who say that such people will not be saved?"
"There are such, Trypho," I answered, "and they do not even dare to engage in conversation or hospitality with such persons; but to these I do not assent. But if they, on account of the weakness of their resolve, wish even now to observe as many of those things from Moses—which we know were ordained for the hardness of the people’s heart—as they can, while at the same time hoping in this Christ, and keeping the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety; and if they choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not persuading them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such things, then I hold that they ought to be received and share in all things as kinsmen and brethren. B But if those of your own race who say they believe in this Christ, O Trypho," I said, "force those of the Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law ordained through Moses, or else refuse to share in such common life with them, I do not approve of them either. But as for those who obey them in the matter of the legal way of life, along with keeping their confession in the Christ of God, I suspect that they too might be saved. And as for those who have confessed and acknowledged that this is Christ, and who for some reason have turned back to the legal way of life, denying that this is the Christ, and have not repented before their death, I assert that they will not be saved at all. C And I also assert that those of the seed of Abraham who live according to the law and do not believe in this Christ before the end of their life will likewise not be saved—and especially those who in the synagogues have cursed, and do curse, this very Christ—and that they will by no means reach salvation and be delivered from the punishment in the fire. For the kindness and the philanthropy of God and the immensity of His riches... D
just as He declares through Ezekiel, regards the one who repents of his sins as righteous and sinless; but the one who turns away from piety and the practice of justice to injustice and impiety, He considers a sinner, an unjust man, and an impious one. Wherefore our Lord Jesus Christ said: “In whatever state I find you, in that I will also judge you.” A
48. Trypho said: We have heard what you think on these matters. Proceed then, and finish the argument where you left off; for it seems to me to be a somewhat strange thing, and one that cannot be demonstrated at all. For you to say that this Christ existed as God before the ages, and then that He condescended to be born and become man, and that He is not a man from men, seems to me not only strange, but foolish. B
To this I replied: I know, I said, that this doctrine seems strange, especially to those of your own race, who have neither wished to understand nor to do the things of God, but those of your teachers, as God Himself cries out. Nevertheless, Trypho, I said, it does not follow that He is not the Christ of God, even if I should be unable to demonstrate that He pre-existed as the Son of the Creator of all, being God, and that He was born as man by the Virgin. But since it has been completely demonstrated that this is the Christ of God, whoever He may be, if I do not demonstrate that He pre-existed, and that He endured to be born as a man subject to like passions as we are, having flesh, in accordance with the will of the Father, it is in this point alone that it would be just to say I have erred, but not to deny that He is the Christ, even if He should appear as a man born of men, and it be demonstrated that He was chosen to be the Christ. For there are some, O friends, I said, of C those of our race who acknowledge Him to be Christ, while holding that He is a man born of men, D
to whose opinions I do not assent, nor would the greatest part of those who agree with me say this; since we have been commanded by Christ himself not to obey human doctrines, but those which were proclaimed by the blessed prophets and taught by Him.
49. And Trypho said: Those who tell us that He was a man, and that He was anointed by election, and became Christ, seem to me to speak more plausibly than you, who tell us what you hold. For we all expect that Christ will be a man born of men, and that Elijah, when he comes, will anoint Him. But if this man appears to be the Christ, he must be regarded as a man born of men; but because Elijah has not yet come, I do not think that He is the Christ.
And I again asked him: Does not Scripture say that Elijah will be the forerunner of the first advent of Christ?
And Trypho said: Yes.
A Does Scripture not say, through Zechariah, that Elijah will come before that great and terrible day of the Lord? And he answered: Most certainly.
If, therefore, the word of God compels us to acknowledge that two advents of Christ were prophesied—one in which He would appear subject to suffering, inglorious, and of common appearance; and the other in which He would come glorious and as judge of all, as has been shown in many of the things said above—shall we not understand that the word of God proclaimed Elijah to be the forerunner of the terrible and great day, that is, of His second advent?
Most certainly, he answered.
And our Lord, I said, taught that this same thing would happen among those things He taught, when He said that Elijah also would come. And we know that this will happen when our Lord Jesus Christ is about to B arrive gloriously from the heavens, of whose first manifestation the Spirit of God, which had been in Elijah, went ahead as a herald in John, a prophet of your race, after whom no other prophet has appeared among you. And sitting by the river Jordan, he cried out: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He who is stronger than I will come, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into the barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." And this very prophet was cast into prison by your king Herod; and when his birthday was being celebrated, the daughter of his brother, dancing to his satisfaction, was ordered to ask for whatever she might want. Then the girl’s mother prompted her to ask for the head of John, who was in prison; and upon her request, the king sent and ordered John’s head to be brought on a platter. Therefore, C our Christ also, while He still walked on earth, said to those who asserted that it was necessary for Elijah to come before Christ: "Elijah indeed will come and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished." And it is written that then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Then Trypho said: It seems also to be contrary to my opinion that you say the prophetic Spirit of God, which was in Elijah, was also in John.
To this I replied: Does it not seem to you that the same thing happened in the case of Joshua the son of Nun, who took over the task of leading the people after Moses? For when God Himself ordered Moses to lay his hands upon Joshua, D
A God says: "And I will take of the spirit that is in you, and will put it upon him." B And he said: "Certainly."
I said, "Therefore, just as when Moses was still among men, God transferred part of the spirit that was in Moses to Joshua, so too was God able to transfer it from Elijah to John; so that, just as Christ appeared without glory in His first advent, thus also the spirit that was in Elijah, always remaining pure—which is the spirit of Christ—might be understood to have come in an inglorious first advent. For it is said that God wars against Amalek by a secret hand, and you will not deny that Amalek fell. But if it is said that Amalek is only to be engaged in the glorious advent of Christ, what fruit will there be of the Scripture which says: 'God wars against Amalek by a secret hand'? Can you understand that a secret power of God was in the crucified Christ, whom the demons, and all the principalities and powers of the earth simply, fear?"
B 50. Then Trypho said: "You seem to me to have come from constant arguments with many people about all disputed matters, and therefore to be prepared to answer everything that is asked of you. Answer me, then, first, how you can demonstrate that there is another God besides the Creator of the universe; and then you will demonstrate that He also deigned to be born of the Virgin."
I said, "Allow me first to speak a few words from the prophecy of Isaiah, which were said concerning the mission on which this very John the Baptist and prophet went forth before our Lord Jesus Christ."
He said, "I allow it."
I said, "Isaiah therefore prophesied thus concerning the mission of John: 'And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: Good is the word of the Lord which He has spoken: let there be peace and justice in my days.'" C D
'" A Comfort the people, O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and comfort her, for her humiliation is fulfilled. Her sin is forgiven, for she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the ways of the Lord; make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and all crooked things shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth paths; and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God; for the Lord has spoken. A voice saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and His arm comes with dominion. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. As a shepherd He will feed His flock, and with His arm He will gather the lambs, and will comfort her that is with young. Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a handful? Who has weighed the mountains with a scale, and the glens in a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been His counselor, that he might instruct Him? Or with whom did He take counsel, and he instructed Him? Or who showed Him judgment? Or who showed Him the way of understanding? All the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are counted as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle. But Lebanon is not sufficient C for burning, and the beasts are not sufficient for a whole burnt offering, and all the nations are nothing, and were counted as nothing.
51. Now when I had finished, Trypho said: "All the words of the prophecy which you bring forward are ambiguous, O man, and they possess nothing that can settle that which you wish to prove."
I replied: If indeed, O Trypho, the prophets in your race had not ceased and come to an end after this John, it is clear that what I say concerning Jesus Christ might perhaps seem to you ambiguous. But if John came first, crying to men to repent, and Christ, appearing to him as he sat by the river Jordan, D put an end to his prophesying and baptizing; and if He Himself also began to preach the Gospel, saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and that He must suffer many things from the scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again, and that He would afterward—
again come to Jerusalem, and then eat and drink with his disciples; A and that in the time between his comings, as I have anticipated, priests and false prophets would arise in his name, which indeed it is clear have come to pass. How, then, can you still doubt, when you have the work itself to convince you? I said beforehand that there would no longer be a prophet in your race, and that men might recognize that the new covenant which had long been preached by God—that it would be ordained—was already then present, that is to say, He Himself being the Christ. B He spoke to them thus: "The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist; from that time the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And if you are willing to receive it, he himself is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
52. Jacob, too, predicted the two advents of Christ, and it was also predicted by the patriarch Jacob that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would be subject to suffering, and that after His coming there would be neither prophet nor king in your race (for so I went on), and that the Gentiles, believing in the suffering Christ, would look for Him to come again. C And for this cause, I said, the Holy Spirit spoke these things in parables and obscurely. I added that He had spoken thus: "Judas, your brethren have praised you; your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father shall worship you. A lion’s whelp is Judah; from the shoot, my son, you have gone up. Having lain down, he slept as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall rouse him? A ruler shall not fail from Judah, and a leader from his thighs, until that which is reserved for Him shall come; and He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the vine-tendril. D He shall wash his garment in wine, and his clothing in the blood of the grape. His eyes are gladsome from wine, and his teeth are white as milk." Since, therefore, you will not be able to say, nor even venture to assert impudently, that there ever ceased to be a prophet or a ruler in your race from the time it began until this Jesus Christ both was born and suffered—for indeed, Herodes, after whom He suffered,
A was an Ascalonite, as you yourselves say—you nevertheless confess that a high priest existed in your race. So even then, when you had one who offered gifts and performed the other legal observances according to the law of Moses, and when prophets had existed by succession down to John—just as also when your people were led away to Babylon, the land having been ravaged and the sacred vessels carried off—a prophet, who was lord and leader and ruler of your people, did not fail from among you. For the Spirit who was in the prophets anointed and appointed your kings. B But after the manifestation and death of Jesus, our Christ, within your race, nowhere has a prophet existed, nor does one exist; indeed, you have even ceased to obey your own king, and furthermore your land has been made desolate and left like a watchman's hut in a vineyard. And the saying of the word through Jacob, "And He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified mysteriously His two comings, and that the nations would believe in Him, which you can see has now at last come to pass. For we who are from all the nations, having become God-fearing and righteous through faith in Christ, await His coming again.
53. And that which is said, "Binding his foal to the vine, and to the vine-branch the foal of his ass," was a foreshadowing of the works done by Him during His first coming, and likewise of the nations who were to believe in Him. C For these were as a foal unharnessed and lacking a yoke upon its neck, until this Christ came and, having sent through His disciples, made them His disciples; and having borne the yoke of His word, they submitted their backs to endure all things for the sake of the blessings expected and promised by Him. And truly, when our Lord Jesus Christ was about to enter Jerusalem, He commanded His disciples to bring to Him a certain ass bound along with its foal at the entrance of a village called Bethphage, as He was about to enter into Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to bring them to Him; and having mounted, He entered into Jerusalem. How this had been prophesied explicitly as to be done by Christ, [we have already stated.] D
A And when all these things have come to pass and are demonstrated from the holy Scriptures, you still remain hard-hearted. For this, too, was prophesied by Zacharias, one of the twelve, as something that was to happen, in these words: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King shall come to thee, righteous and saving, and meek, and poor, sitting upon a beast of burden and a foal of an ass." B Now, that the prophetic Spirit should name specifically both the beast of burden—which along with her foal had been taken and used—and then also that which I have already mentioned, that He commanded His disciples to bring both animals, was a pre-announcement of those who, from your synagogue, along with those from the nations, were to believe in Him. For, just as the unbroken foal was a sign for those from the nations, so the beast of burden was for those of your people; for you have the Law, which was promulgated through the prophets, laid upon you. But it was also foretold by the prophet Zacharias that this very Christ would be stricken, and His disciples scattered; which also came to pass. For after He was crucified, the disciples who were with Him were scattered until He rose C from the dead, and persuaded them that it had been so foretold concerning Him, that He was to suffer thus; and they, having been persuaded and having gone out into the whole world, taught these things. Hence we also are confirmed in the faith and instruction of Him; since we draw our assurance both from the prophets, and from those who, throughout the world, are seen to have become worshipers of God in the name of Him who was crucified. Now the things said by Zacharias are as follows: "O sword, awake against my shepherd, and against the man of my people, saith the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and his sheep shall be scattered."
54. Regarding what has been recorded by Moses and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, "He shall wash his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of the grape," D it signified that by His blood He would wash those who believe in Him. For the Holy Spirit called those who through Him have received the remission of sins His garment; among whom He is always present in power, and shall be present manifestly in His second coming. But the Scripture saying "the blood of the grape" declares, through this artifice, that Christ indeed has blood, but not from human seed, but from the power of God. For in the same way that [the blood of the grape was not born of man, but…]
A God is not born of man, so too it foretold that the blood of Christ would not be from the human race, but from the power of God. And this prophecy, sirs, which I was mentioning, demonstrates that Christ is not a man begotten of men in the common manner of men.
55. *Trypho requests that Christ be proven God, but without metaphor. Justin promises.* — Then Trypho replied: We shall keep your interpretation in mind, even if you strengthen this question with other arguments. But for now, returning to where the discourse digressed, demonstrate to us that another God, besides the Creator of the universe, is acknowledged by the prophetic Spirit; taking care, however, not to mention the sun and the moon, which it is written were granted by God to the nations for them to worship as gods. And by using this manner of speech, the prophets often say in a certain way: "Your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords," often adding, "the great and mighty and terrible." For these things are not said as if they were gods, but as the word teaching us that, among those who are considered gods and lords, the one who is truly God, who created all things, is the only Lord. For in order to refute even this, the Holy Spirit said through holy David: "The gods of the nations, B who are considered gods, are idols of demons, and not gods." And he adds a curse upon those who make them and worship them.
Then I said: I was not intending, Trypho, to bring forward these demonstrations, by which I know that those who worship these and similar things are condemned, but rather such things as no one will be able to speak against. To you, however, they will seem strange, although they are read by you daily; so that even from this it may be clear to you that, on account of your wickedness, God has hidden from you the ability to understand the wisdom which is in His words, except for a few to whom, according to the grace of His great mercy, as Isaiah said, He has left a seed for salvation, so that your race might not perish entirely, as [did that] of the Sodomites and Gomorrahs. Therefore, pay attention to those things which I am about to recall from the holy Scriptures, which C indeed will not need to be explained, but only heard.
56. *The God who was seen by Abraham is distinguished from God the Father.* — Moses, therefore, that blessed and faithful servant of God, declares that He is God who appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre with the two angels who were sent with Him by another—Him who remains forever in the heavens, and who has never appeared to anyone, D or [at any time] spoken by Himself, whom we understand to be the Maker of all and the Father; thus indeed…
A he says: “And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. And lifting up his eyes, he saw; and behold, three men were standing over him; and seeing [them] he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and he bowed himself to the earth and said,” and the rest up to: “And Abraham arose in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards the face of the land round about, and he saw; and behold, a flame went up from the earth like the smoke of a furnace.” And having ceased to speak further, I asked them if they had understood what had been said.
But they replied that they had understood, but that the words brought forward contained nothing to show that anyone other than the Creator of all is God or Lord, or that it was spoken by the Holy Spirit.
And I again: “I shall endeavor, inasmuch as you understand the Scriptures, to persuade you [of the truth of] what I say, namely, that there is, and is called, another God and Lord under the Creator of all, who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatever the Creator of all—above whom there is no other God—wishes to announce to them.” And recounting again the things said before, I asked Trypho: “Does it seem to you that God appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, as the Scripture says?”
He replied: “Certainly.”
“And was one,” I said, “of those three whom the prophetic Spirit calls men and declares to have appeared to Abraham?”
He said: “By no means; but God appeared to him before the three appeared. But those three whom the Scripture calls men, were angels; two of whom were sent for the destruction of Sodom, but one B announcing to Sarah that she would have a child for which [purpose] he had been sent, and having finished it, departed.”
“How then,” I said, “does that one of the three who was in the tent, and who said: ‘At this time I will return to you, and Sarah shall have a son,’ appear to have returned after the son was born to Sarah, and the prophetic Word declares that He is God also in that place? But that what I am saying may be clear and manifest to you, listen to the things [spoken] by Moses.” C D
And the text runs thus: “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian handmaid, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with Isaac her son, and she said to Abraham: Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son Isaac. And the matter seemed very grievous to Abraham concerning his son. And God said to Abraham: Let it not be grievous to you concerning the boy and the handmaid. All things that Sarah may say to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Have you understood, then, that He who at that time under the oak tree said that He would return, since He foreknew that it was necessary for Him to counsel Abraham concerning the things which Sarah was contending for, has returned, as is written, and is God, as the words declare which were spoken in this way: “And God said to Abraham: Let it not be grievous unto thee concerning the boy and the handmaid?” This I asked.
Trypho answered: Assuredly; yet you have by no means proven from this that there is another God besides Him who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets, but you have B convinced us that we thought incorrectly when we supposed that those three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels.
And I again: If, therefore, I were not able to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that one of those three is God and is called an angel, because He announces, as I previously stated, to whomsoever the Maker of all things, God, wishes the things from Himself to be announced, it would be reasonable for you to hold the same opinion as your whole nation regarding Him who appeared to Abraham on earth in the likeness of a man, not otherwise than the two accompanying angels, and who was God before the world was created.
Entirely so, said he; for thus have we held until now.
And I again: Returning to the Scriptures, I will endeavor to persuade you C that this One, who is said to be seen by Abraham and by Jacob and by Moses, and is called God by the Scripture, is other than the God who created all things—other, I say, in number, though not in opinion. For I maintain that He never did anything except what the Maker of the world, above whom there is no other God, wished Him to do and to speak.
Then Trypho: Prove, therefore, that this is the case, so that we may assent to this also. For we do not suspect you of saying that He has done or spoken anything contrary to the will of the D Creator of the universe.
A I said: "The Scripture, therefore, which I have brought forward, will make this clear to you. It is as follows: 'The sun had gone forth upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor; and the Lord rained upon Sodom sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region.'"
The fourth of those who remained with Trypho said: "Therefore, must we not necessarily say, concerning the two angels who descended into Sodom, whom the discourse through Moses mentioned, and whom it called 'Lord' [as one], B that besides this one, there is also the God Himself who appeared to Abraham?"
I said: "It is not for this reason alone that one ought to confess, in every way, that another is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides the One who is understood to be the Creator of the universe. Nor is this [taught] only through Moses, but also through David. For it has been said by him also: C 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet,' as I have previously mentioned. And again in other words: 'Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your fellows.' If, therefore, you say that another is called God and Lord by the Holy Spirit besides the Father of all D and His Christ, answer me; for I promise to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that it is not one of the two angels who descended into Sodom that the Scripture called Lord, but that it is He who was with them, who is also called God and who appeared to Abraham."
And Trypho said: "Demonstrate this; for as you see, the day is advancing, and we are not prepared for such dangerous answers, since we have never heard anyone investigate, or seek, or demonstrate these things; and we have not heard you…"
A refer all things to the Scriptures; for you strive to draw your demonstrations from them, and you declare that there is no God above the Maker of all things.
Then I said: "Know, then, that the Scripture says: 'And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I indeed bear a child? But I have grown old. Is any word impossible with God? At this time I will return to you at the proper time, and Sara shall have a son.' And after a little: 'And the men, rising up from there, looked towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah; and Abraham walked with them, accompanying them. The Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham my servant what I am doing?' And again, after a few words, it says thus: 'The Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are very great. I will go down, therefore, and see whether they are being consumed according to their cry which comes to me; and if not, that I may know.' And the men, turning from there, went to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord; and drawing near, Abraham said: Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?' And what follows—for it seems to me that it is not necessary to write the same things again, since I have already written them all; but it is necessary to speak those things from which I have made my demonstration to Trypho and his companions. B Then, therefore, I came to the things that follow, in which these things are said: 'And the Lord departed when he finished speaking to Abraham; and he returned to his own place. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom,' and what follows, likewise, until: 'And the men, stretching out their hands, drew Lot to themselves into the house, and shut the door of the house;' and the following, until: 'And the angels took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his daughters, in that the Lord spared him. And it came to pass when they had led them forth outside, they said: Save, save your soul! Do not look behind you, nor stay in all the surrounding region; be saved to the mountain, lest you be caught at the same time.' And Lot said to them: 'I pray, Lord, because your servant has found mercy before you, and you have magnified your righteousness, which you are doing towards me so that my soul may live; but I cannot be saved in the mountain, C lest the evils overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near to flee to, and it is small. I shall be saved there, as it is small; and my soul shall live.' And he said to him: 'Behold, I have admired your face, even in this word, so as not to overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hasten, therefore, to escape there; for I shall not be able to perform the deed until you arrive there.' Therefore he called the name of the city Segor. The sun went forth upon the earth; and Lot entered into Segor. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah D
sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he destroyed these cities, and the whole surrounding country." And again, after a pause, I added: "And now, friends, have you not perceived that one of the three, who is both God and Lord, and who ministers to Him who is in the heavens, is Lord of the two angels? For when they had gone [further] A to Sodom, He remained behind and conversed with Abraham concerning the things recorded by Moses. And when He too had departed after the conversation, Abraham returned to his place. But when He arrived, it was no longer two angels who conversed with Lot, but He Himself, as the word declares, and He is Lord, having received from the Lord who is in heaven—that is, from the Creator of all things—[the authority] to inflict upon Sodom and Gomorrah the things which the word recounts in this manner: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven."
57. And Trypho, when I had ceased, said: "That the Scripture compels us to acknowledge this is manifest; but that it is worthy of inquiry concerning what is said, that they ate the things prepared and set before them by Abraham, this too you would admit."
I answered: "That it is written that they ate is true; but if we should understand it as having been said of the three, and not of those two only, who were truly angels and are nourished in those heavens, as is clear to us, although they are not nourished by the same food as we men use—for concerning the food of manna, on which your fathers lived in the wilderness, the Scripture speaks thus, that they ate angels' food—I would say that the word which speaks of them as having eaten would express it just as we ourselves might speak of fire, that it 'devoured everything,' but not that we must necessarily understand this as though they ate by chewing with teeth and jaws. B So that not even here should we be at a loss, if we possess even a slight knowledge of tropes."
And Trypho: "These things can also be smoothed out and explained in this way, if the manner of eating be distinguished, in that it is written that they ate what had been prepared by Abraham. Wherefore now proceed to explain to us how this God who appeared to Abraham, and who is the minister of the God who is the Creator of all things, being born of a Virgin, became a man subject to the same sufferings as all others, as you previously stated."
I replied: "Allow me, Trypho, to first bring together some other proofs for this head through many arguments, so that this also may be examined by you, and after this I will render the explanation you request."
And he said: "As it seems good to you, do so; for you will be doing a thing very much desired by me."
58. And I said: "I am about to recite to you the Scriptures, and I have no desire to show off a display of words for the sake of art alone; D for I possess no such power;
but only the grace granted to me by God to understand His Scriptures; of which grace I invite all, freely and abundantly, to become partakers, that I may not be condemned in the judgment which the God who created the universe is about to bring through my Lord Jesus Christ. A And Trypho said: "You do this worthily indeed of religion; but you seem to me to be using dissimulation when you say that you do not possess the power of artistic speech."
I answered again: "Since it seems so to you, let it hold; as for me, I am persuaded that what I have said is true. But that I may rather proceed to the remaining demonstrations, pay attention."
He said: "Speak."
And I said: "Again it is written by Moses, brothers, that this same one who appeared to the patriarchs is called God, and is called Angel and Lord, so that you may know from these things that He ministers to the Father of the universe, B as you have already agreed, and may hold this firmly persuaded by many arguments. The divine word, therefore, relating through Moses those things which concern Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, speaks thus: 'And it came to pass when the sheep were conceiving in the womb, and I saw them with my eyes in a dream. And behold, the goats and the rams leaping upon the sheep and the goats, white-spotted, and variegated, and ash-colored, and speckled. And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob, Jacob. And I said, What is it, Lord? And he said, Look with your eyes, and see the goats and the rams leaping upon the sheep and the goats, white-spotted, and variegated, and ash-colored, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban does to you. I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God, where you anointed a pillar for me there, and vowed a vow there. Now therefore arise and depart C from this land, and go to the land of your birth, and I will be with you.' And again, speaking of Jacob himself in other words, it says: 'And rising that night, he took his two wives and his two handmaids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of Jabbok; and he took them and crossed the torrent and caused all his own to cross over. But Jacob was left alone; and an angel wrestled with him until morning. And he saw that he could not prevail against him; and he touched the breadth of his thigh, and the breadth of Jacob's thigh became numb while he wrestled with him. And he said to him, Let me go; for the dawn has ascended. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me.'" D
' A And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." And he said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have prevailed with God, and with men you shall be powerful." And Jacob asked and said, "Tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place, "Vision of God"—for, "I saw God face to face, and my soul rejoiced." B And again, in other passages speaking about the same Jacob, it says this: "And Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him; and he built there an altar and called the name of that place Bethel; for there God appeared to him when he was fleeing from the face of Esau his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and was buried below Bethel under the oak; and Jacob called the name of it The Oak of Mourning. And God appeared to Jacob again in Luz, when he came from Mesopotamia of Syria, and blessed him; and God said to him, Your name shall no longer C be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." He is called God, and He is God, and shall be. And when all had nodded their heads, I said: "And the accounts which tell how He appeared to him when he was fleeing from his brother Esau—this same one being both angel, and God, and Lord, and having appeared to Abraham in the form of a man, and having wrestled with this same Jacob in the form of a man—I think it necessary to present to you; and they are of this sort: 'And Jacob went out from the Well of the Oath, and set out for Charran; and he reached a place and slept there, for the sun had set; and he took from the stones of the place and put them at his head, and slept in that place, and dreamed. And behold, a ladder set up on the earth, D whose head reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord was standing over it; and He said, I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and of Isaac; do not fear; the land on which you are sleeping, I will give it to you and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the sand of the earth, and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and to the south, and to the north, and to the east; and in you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. And behold, I am with you, keeping you in all the way wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not forsake you until I have done all things that I have spoken to you. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Because the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it; and he was afraid and said, How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose in the morning, and took the stone which he had placed at his head; and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it, and Jacob called the name of the place, House of God; and Ulam-maus was the name of the city before.'"
A 59. When I had said this, "Bear with me," I said, "while I demonstrate to you from the book of Exodus how this same one, who is both angel and God and Lord and man and human, who appeared to Abraham and Isaac B and shone forth in the flame of fire from the bush, spoke with Moses." And as they willingly, without annoyance, and readily asserted that they would listen, I continued: "These things are in the book which is inscribed Exodus: 'And it came to pass after those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned because of their works,' and the rest up to the point: 'Go, gather the elders of Israel and you shall say to them: The Lord God of your fathers appeared to me, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, saying, I will surely visit you, and all that has happened to you in Egypt.' And to these things I added: 'Do you understand, sirs, that the angel whom Moses says spoke to him in the flame of fire, while being God, declares to Moses that he is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob?'"
60. Trypho replied: "We do not understand this from the words you have recited, but that the angel who was seen in the flame of fire was one, and God who spoke with Moses was another; so that both angel and God were present together in that vision."
I answered again: "Even if this were the case then, my friends, that both an angel and God were present together in the vision that occurred to Moses, as indeed has been demonstrated to you by the words already recorded C, it is not the Creator of the universe who is the God who said to Moses that He is the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, but the one who, as has been demonstrated to you, appeared to Abraham and to Jacob, serving the will of the Creator of the universe, and in the judgment of the Sodomites also serving His counsel; so that even if, as you say, there were two—both angel and God—no one who is not entirely bereft of mind would dare to say that the Creator of the universe and Father of all, having abandoned everything above the heavens, appeared in a small D portion of the earth."
Trypho said: "Since it has already been demonstrated that the one who appeared to Abraham and was called God and Lord, received from that Lord who is in the heavens the things which He brought upon the land of Sodom, now, even if an angel had been present with the God who appeared to Moses, the God who
spoke from the bush, we must understand that this was not the God who is the creator of all things, but A that One who also appeared and was shown to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, who is also called the Angel of the God who is the creator of all things and is understood to be so, because he reports to mankind the commands from the Father and creator of all.
I then said again: But I shall now demonstrate, O Trypho, that in the vision of Moses, this very same one, who is both called angel and is God, appeared and spoke with Moses. For so the Scripture says: B "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the bush; and he sees that the bush burns with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: I will go over and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he was drawing near to see, the Lord called to him out of the bush." Therefore, just as the Scripture says that the angel who appeared to Jacob in his sleep was the one who spoke, and then that the very angel who appeared in his sleep had said to him, "I am the God who appeared to thee when thou wast fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother;" and in the case of Abraham, in the judgment of Sodom, it states that the Lord brought the judgment from the Lord who is in the heavens; so also in this place, the Scripture, saying that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and afterwards indicating that He is the Lord and God, does not signify any other than Him whom it indicates, through the many testimonies already brought forward, as ministering to the God who is above the world, above whom there is no other.
61. I shall also give you another testimony from the Scriptures, my friends, that God C has begotten as a beginning, before all created things, a certain rational power from Himself, which is also called by the Holy Spirit the glory of the Lord, sometimes the Son, sometimes Wisdom, sometimes the Angel, sometimes God, and sometimes Lord and Word; and sometimes He calls Himself Commander-in-chief, appearing in the form of a man to Joshua the son of Nun. For He has all these names from His serving the Father's will, and from His having been begotten by the will of the Father. But such is... D
A what we see happening even in our own case; for when we utter a word, we beget a word, yet not by abscission, so as to diminish the word that is in us by our uttering it. And just as we see in the case of fire, which is another fire even though it is not diminished, that from which it is kindled remaining as it was, and it, the thing kindled from it, also appearing as something that exists without diminishing that from which it was kindled; so the Word of Wisdom itself, being this God begotten of the Father of all things B and being Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Glory of Him who begot Him, will bear witness for me, speaking these things through Solomon: "If I report to you the things that happen daily, I shall remember to count those from of old. The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works. Before the age He founded me in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled; but before all the hills He begets me. God made the region, and the uninhabited, and the topmost places inhabited under heaven. When He was preparing the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He was marking out His throne C upon the winds; when He made the clouds above strong, and when He made the fountains of the abyss secure; when He made the foundations of the earth strong, I was with Him as one arranging them. I was the one in whom He delighted; and daily I rejoiced before His face at all times, because He rejoiced at the completion of the inhabited world, and rejoiced in the sons of men. Now, therefore, O child, listen to me. Blessed is the man who will listen to me, and the man who will keep my ways, watching at my doors daily, keeping the posts of my entry. For my exits are the exits of life, and a will is prepared by the Lord. But they who sin against me act impiously against their own souls: and they who hate me love death." D
But he says, "a begotten principle before all works." "The principle," he says, "before all works is this offspring itself begotten of God." Tatian, in explaining the Word's advance to the creation of the world, uses exactly the same examples and sentiments as Justin in this place. Yet if one retains these words, they should be written with a mark of interrogation, as in the London edition. Moreover, the generation of which the martyr speaks is here also that which he constantly attributes to the Word as He proceeds to the creation of the world. [alt-version omitted]
A Moreover, that same thing, O friends, the divine word has proclaimed through Moses, indicating to us that God speaks in this very sense regarding the creation of man, saying these things: “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep upon the earth.” And God made man: in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them. And God blessed them, saying: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it.” And so that you might not, by distorting the previously mentioned words, say those things which your teachers say—either that God was saying to Himself, “Let us make,” just as we, when we are about to make something, often say to ourselves, “Let us make,” or that God was saying “Let us make” to the elements, that is, to the earth and the like, from which we understand man to have been made—I shall again relate the words spoken by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably recognize that He was conversing with someone who was both another in number and rational. And these are the words: B “And God said: Behold, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil.” Since, therefore, He said, “as one of us,” and declared a number of those who are together, and at least two, I would not say that the heresy which is called among you is true, nor can its teachers prove—that He was speaking to angels or that the human body was the work of angels. But this is the offspring who was truly brought forth from the Father and was with the Father before all created things, and with Him the Father converses, as the Word manifested through C Solomon.
A I have shown that this same one is the Wisdom called by Solomon, and through the revelation made to Joshua the son of Nun, I have spoken of that which he himself declared. But so that what I am saying may become clear to you from these things also, listen to the words taken from the Book of Joshua: "And it came to pass, when Joshua was in Jericho, he looked up with his eyes and saw a man standing opposite him. And Joshua went up and said to him: Are you on our side, or on the side of our adversaries? And he said to him: I am the prince of the host of the Lord; I have now arrived. And Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him: Lord, what do you command your servant? And the prince of the Lord's host said to Joshua: Loosen the sandals from your feet; for the place on which you stand, the ground is holy. And Jericho was closed up and fortified, and no one went out from it. And the Lord said to Joshua: Behold, I deliver into your hands Jericho, and its king who is in it, and the men who are mighty in strength."
Trypho said: "Your demonstration is very powerful, my friend, and supported by many proofs. What remains, therefore, is for you to demonstrate that he did not refuse to be born as a man from the Virgin according to the will of His Father, and to be crucified, and to die; and it must be clearly shown that, after these things, having risen, He ascended into heaven."
I replied: "This, too, has already been demonstrated by me, sirs, in the previously recounted words of the prophets, which I shall now recite again for your sake and, by explaining them, I will attempt to bring you to an agreement on this matter as well. For the word which Isaiah spoke, 'Who shall tell of His generation? For His life is taken from the earth,' does it not seem to you to have been said of Him who is declared to have been delivered to death by God on account of the iniquities of the people, signifying that He does not have His lineage from men? Concerning whom Moses also, as I previously stated, when speaking mystically, said that He would wash His robe in the blood of the grape, since His blood was not generated from human seed, but by the will of God. And the words spoken by David: 'In the splendors of your saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord swore and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,' C do they not signify to you that it was ordained of old that He would also be D born from a human womb by the God and Father of all?
And in another place, speaking to the same persons previously mentioned: 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a rod of equity is the rod of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia from thy garments, from the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Daughters of kings in thy honour. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship him' (Ps. XLIV, 7-12). That He is indeed worthy of worship, and is both God and Christ, being witnessed to by Him who performed these things, these words also expressly signify. And that the word of God addresses those who believe in Him, as being one soul, one synagogue, and one Church, as a daughter—the Church which has been formed out of His name and has participated in His name (for we are all called Christians)—is likewise plainly declared by these words, which teach us to forget also the ancient customs of our fathers, being thus: 'Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship him.' B
64. To the Jew who denies that He is in need of this Christ, Justin brings forward other testimonies.
Trypho: Let this be yours, who are from the Gentiles, that He is acknowledged as Lord and Christ and God, as the Scriptures signify, and that you have all even been named Christians from His name. But for us, who are worshippers of God, by whom even this One Himself was made, there is no need to confess or worship Him.
To this I replied: If, Trypho, I were of a mind for contentiousness and light-mindedness like yourselves, I would no longer continue to share words with you; for you do not prepare yourselves to understand the things that are said, but only sharpen yourselves to say something. But now, because I fear the judgment of God, I do not hasten to make a pronouncement regarding any of those things C which from D the Scriptures—because I suspect that you have designated the author of them, but later preferred to interpret them with Lango concerning the Creator of all things. Do you suppose, sirs, that we could ever have been able to understand these things in the Scriptures, if we had not received grace to understand them by the will of Him who willed them? of Him who willed them, of Him who performed these things... is the true race, if... 158: For Christ, being the firstborn of every creature and the beginning, has again become the head of another race, which has been reborn through Him. See note 110.
A I do not prejudge anyone from your race, whether or not he is of the number of those who can be saved by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth. Therefore, although you do not act rightly, I shall proceed to answer whatever has been proposed or said against me by you; I do the same toward everyone, without exception, of every race of men who wish to discourse or inquire of me concerning these matters. If, therefore, you had turned your minds to the things which I have brought forward from the Scriptures, you would certainly have understood that those who are saved from your race are saved through Him, and are in His portion; and, evidently, you would not have asked me about this. But I will again state what I previously brought forward from David, and I beseech you to apply yourselves to understanding, and not merely to acting evilly and seeking to contend against it. The words which David speaks are these: B "The Lord has reigned; C let the peoples be angry; He who sits upon the Cherubim; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Sion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them confess to Thy great name, for it is terrible and holy; and the honor of the king loves judgment. Thou hast prepared uprightness; judgment and justice in Jacob Thou hast wrought. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet, for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They were calling upon the Lord, and He was hearing them; in a pillar of cloud He was speaking to them; because they were keeping His testimonies and His commandments, which He gave to them."
And there are other words, also foretold by David, which you foolishly contend were spoken concerning Solomon because they are inscribed to Solomon—from which, however, it is proven that they were not spoken of Solomon, and that He existed even before the sun, and that those from your people who are saved will be saved through Him. These are the words: "O God, give Thy judgment to the King, and Thy justice to the Son of the King. He shall judge Thy people in justice, and Thy poor in judgment. Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills justice. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the sons of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer; and He shall remain with the sun, and before the moon unto generations of generations," and the rest up to: "Before the sun remains His name, and in Him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who does wondrous things alone; and blessed be the name of His glory for ever and ever; and all the earth shall be filled with His glory. So be it, so be it!"
A Recall also the other words which I said were spoken by David—to the effect that he was to come from the ends of the heavens, and that his return to the same places was signified—so that you may recognize that He who came down from heaven and became man among men is God; and also that he is to come again, whom those who pierced him are to see and lament. These are those words: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night declares knowledge. There are no speeches nor words in which their voices are not heard. Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun He has set His tabernacle; and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, will exult as a giant to run his course. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his course as far as the end of heaven; and there is none who shall hide himself from his heat."
65. Then Trypho said: "Moved by the authority of so many Scriptures, I am at a loss in my mind as to what I should say regarding that Scripture in which God, through Isaiah, declares that He will not give His glory to any other, saying thus: 'I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues.'" B
I said: "If you spoke these words simply and without malice, Trypho, and remained silent, neither prefixing what comes before them nor adding what follows, you may be forgiven. But if you have done so on the grounds that you thought you could drive the argument into such difficulties as to make me say that the Scriptures are contrary to one another, you have erred. For I would never dare to think or say such a thing. On the contrary, if any Scripture is proposed that seems to be of such a nature and provides a pretext as if it were contrary to another, C being fully persuaded that no Scripture is contrary to another, I will rather admit that I do not understand what is said, and I will endeavor to persuade those who suspect that the Scriptures are in conflict with one another so that they think the same as I do. But with what intent you have posed this question, God knows. I, however, will bring the Scripture to your memory just as it is clearly written, so that even from this you may know that God gives His glory to His Christ alone.
"I will take up a few words, sirs, which are in connection with those mentioned by Trypho, and those which are similarly joined in sequence. For I will not cite them from another passage, but as they are joined and coherent as one; and you, give your attention to me. They are these: 'Thus says the Lord God who made the heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and those things in it, and who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it. I, the Lord God, have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant of the race, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead out the bound from their bonds, and those sitting in darkness from the house of prison. I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, D
nor my virtues to graven images. The things from the beginning, behold, are come; new things which I announce, and before they are announced, they are made manifest to you. Sing to the Lord a new song; his dominion is from the end of the earth. You that go down to the sea, and those who sail always, the islands and those who dwell in them. Let the desert rejoice, and the villages thereof, and the houses, and the dwellers in Cedar shall rejoice, and they who dwell in the rock from the summit of the mountains shall cry out; they shall give glory to God; his virtues they shall proclaim in the islands. The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, he shall crush war, he shall stir up zeal, and shall cry out against his enemies with strength. C Having recited these, I said to them: "Have you understood, friends, that God declares that he will give glory to Him whom he has established as a light for the nations, and not to any other; but not, as Trypho said, that God keeps the glory for himself?" And Trypho answered: "We have understood this also; finish, therefore, the remaining parts of the discourse."
66. D I then resumed the discourse which I had broken off at the beginning, that it was prophesied by Isaiah that he was to be born of a Virgin, and that he was born through a Virgin, and I recited the prophecy itself again in these words: "And the Lord continued to speak to Achaz saying: 'Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height.' And Achaz said: 'I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.' And Isaiah said: 'Hear now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to strive with men? And how do you strive with the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel; butter and honey shall he eat; *before he knows or prefers evils, he shall choose the good. For before the child knows evil or good, he disobeys evil to choose the good.* For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall receive the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians, and the land shall be taken, which you bitterly bear, from before the face of the two kings. But God shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days that have not yet come since the day when Ephraim took away from Judah, the king of the Assyrians.'" And I added: "That indeed no one in the race of Abraham according to the flesh has ever been born of a Virgin, nor is said to have been born, except this Christ of ours, who..."
A is our Christ, is manifest to all. But Trypho replied: "The Scripture does not have, 'Behold, the Virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son,' but, 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and shall bear a son,' and the rest as you read these things. And the entire prophecy was spoken with reference to Hezekiah, in whom it is also demonstrated that those things came to pass which are contained in this oracle. It is related in the myths of those who are called Greeks, that Perseus was born of Danaë, being a virgin, to whom he who is called Zeus by them had descended in the form of gold; B and you, repeating the same things as them, ought to be ashamed, and rather say that this Jesus is a human born of humans; and if you prove from the Scriptures that he is the Christ, because he lived lawfully and perfectly, it was granted to him to be chosen as Christ; but do not dare to talk of monsters, so that you may not be convicted of acting foolishly even as the Greeks do."
And I, regarding these things, replied: "O Trypho, I wish you to be convinced, and all men simply, that even if you should speak worse things in joking and mocking, you will not turn me away from the proposed task, but from those words or things which you think provide a handy method of refuting me, C from these I shall always draw the demonstrations of the things spoken by me, with the testimony of the Scriptures. However, you do not act rightly nor as a lover of truth, when you attempt to dissolve even those things concerning which we had previously always agreed, namely that some of the commandments were given to you by Moses because of the hardness of the heart of your people. For you said that because of his living lawfully he was selected, and became Christ, if D indeed this man should be proved to be He."
And Trypho said: "For you yourself confessed to us," he said, "that he was even circumcised, and observed the other ordinances commanded through Moses."
And I answered: "I confessed, and I confess; but I did not confess that he endured all these things because he was to be justified by them, but because he was fulfilling the dispensation which his Father and the Creator of all, and Lord and God, willed. Indeed, I confess that he endured to die, being crucified, and to become man, and to suffer as many things as the men of your race dared against him. But since, O Trypho, you withdraw again from the things to which you already consented...
answer me: Those righteous ones and A patriarchs who lived before Moses, since they observed nothing of that which the word proves to have had its beginning of institution through Moses, are they saved in the inheritance of the blessed, or not?
And Trypho said: The Scriptures compel me to confess it.
Likewise, I asked again, I said: Did God command your fathers to offer gifts and sacrifices because of need, or because of their hardness of heart and their inclination toward idol-worship?
And to this too, he said, the Scriptures likewise compel us to confess.
And that, I said, God promised to institute a new covenant beyond that which was given at Mount Horeb, did the Scriptures likewise foretell this?
And this, he answered, was also foretold.
And I again asked: Was the Old Covenant, I said, ordained to your fathers with fear and trembling, so that they were not even able to listen to God?
And he confessed it.
Why then, I said, did God promise that there would be another covenant, B and say that it would be instituted not as that one was, but without fear and trembling and lightnings, and that it would demonstrate what commandment or work God judges to be eternal and suitable for every race, and what he commanded as accommodated to the hardness of the heart of your people, as he cries out through the prophets?
And to this, he said, it is necessary for all lovers of truth, rather than lovers of contention, to agree.
And I said: I do not see how, while calling some others lovers of contention, you yourself have frequently appeared in this same act, often speaking against those things to which you have agreed.
68. And Trypho said: You attempt to prove a thing that is incredible and almost impossible, namely, that God endured to be born and become man.
If I were attempting to prove this, I said, by human teachings or arguments, it would not be right C for you to tolerate me. But if I call upon the Scriptures and, bringing forward so many which have been said to this purpose, and frequently citing the same, I ask you to understand them, you show yourselves hard of heart toward recognizing the mind and will of God. If you wish to remain such always, I, for my part, will suffer no harm, but keeping always the same things which I had even before I met with you, I shall depart from you. D
A And Trypho said: "See, friend, that it has come to you with much labor and toil to acquire these things. Therefore, we too must carefully examine all things that come our way, and only then give our assent to those things to which the Scriptures compel us to assent."
To this I replied: "I do not ask you, I said, not to make the examination of the questions at issue with every effort of mind, but rather not to speak against the things to which you have already said you assent, when you have nothing to say."
And Trypho said: "We shall try to do this."
Again I said: "Beyond what I have already asked of you, I wish to ask you again; for by these questions I shall endeavor to conclude the discussion briefly."
And Trypho said: "Ask."
I said: "Do you conceive that any other is to be worshipped, and called Lord and God in the Scriptures, B except the Creator of this universe and the Christ, who has been shown to you by so many Scriptures to have been made man?"
And Trypho said: "How can we confess this, since we have made such a great inquiry as to whether there is any other besides the Father only?"
Again I said: "It is necessary that I ask you this as well, that I may know whether you think anything else beyond what you have just now confessed."
"Nothing at all," he said, "O man."
Again I said: "Since you truly assent to these things, and the Scripture says: 'Who shall declare his generation?' C ought you not now to understand that he is not the seed of a human race?"
And Trypho said: "How then does the Scripture say to David that God will take to Himself a son from his loins, and will establish for him the kingdom, and will seat him upon the throne of his glory?"
I said: "Trypho, if the prophecy which Isaiah uttered, 'Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb,' D did not say it to the house of David, but to another house of a tribe, the matter might perhaps have had some difficulty. But since the prophecy itself is spoken to the house of David, what God said to David in a mystery through Isaiah has been explained as it was to come to pass. Unless, my friends, you are ignorant of the many arcane—
A expressions and those spoken in parables, or mysteries, or in symbols of actions, which the prophets who came after those who spoke or acted them have explained.”
“Indeed,” said Trypho.
“If, then, I can demonstrate that this prophecy of Isaiah was spoken of this Christ of ours, and not of Hezekiah, as you maintain, will I not also succeed in persuading you not to trust your teachers, who dare to say that the interpretation which your seventy elders—who were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians—produced is not in every respect true? For as for those things in the Scriptures which clearly expose their foolish and self-loving opinion, they dare to say that they were not so written. And as for the things which they think they can twist and adapt B to human actions, they assert that these were not spoken of our Jesus Christ, but of the one whom they choose to explain them as referring to. Just as they taught you that this Scripture, about which the present discussion is being held, was spoken of Hezekiah; which, as I promised, I shall prove them to be lying about. For when we bring against them those Scriptures which I recited earlier, which demonstrate in express words that Christ is passible, and to be worshipped, and is God—which also I previously recounted to you—they are compelled to agree that they were spoken of Christ, but they dare to say that this man is not the Christ. They confess, however, that he will come, and suffer, and reign, and be C an adorable God; which I shall also prove to be ridiculous and foolish. But since I am pressed by urgency to answer first what was said by you in a ridiculous manner, I shall make my replies to these points, and afterward I shall proceed to demonstrate the things that remain.”
69. “The devil, when he emulates the truth, has brought in myths about Bacchus, Hercules, and Aesculapius.—You should know well, Trypho (for so I proceeded), that those things which the so-called devil has corrupted and adulterated, and caused to be narrated among the Greeks—just as he operated through the magicians in Egypt and the false prophets in the time of Elijah—these things have served to confirm my D knowledge and faith in the Scriptures. For when they say that Bacchus was born of Jupiter’s union with Semele, and that he became the discoverer of the vine, and that he was torn asunder and died...
and rose again, and ascended into heaven; and when they bring in wine in his A mysteries, do I not understand that what the devil said in the prophecy of Jacob, which Moses committed to writing, has been imitated to produce this? And when they say that Hercules was strong, and traveled over the whole earth, and was also born of Jupiter from Alcmene, and died, and ascended into heaven, do I not think that the Scripture which says of Christ, "Strong as a giant to run his course" (Ps. xviii, 6), has been similarly imitated? And when he brings in Aesculapius as having raised the dead and healed all other diseases, do I not say that in this also he has similarly imitated the prophecies about Christ? But because I have not yet brought forward to you any such Scripture as would signify that Christ was to do these things, I shall now necessarily B mention one; from which you may be able to understand how it was predicted that even those who were like a desert in regard to the knowledge of God—I mean the Gentiles, who had eyes but did not see, and had hearts but did not understand, worshipping works made of matter—would renounce them, and hope in this Christ. It is stated as follows: "Be glad, thou desert that thirstest; let the desert rejoice, and blossom as the lily: and it shall blossom, and the deserts of Jordan shall rejoice; and the glory of the Lebanon was given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people shall see the height of the Lord, and the glory of God. Be strong, ye slack hands and paralyzed knees. Be comforted, ye faint-hearted in heart; be strong, do not fear. Behold, our God C renders judgment, and will render: he himself will come and will save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame man shall leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; for water has broken forth in the desert, and a ravine in the thirsty land, and the waterless place shall be for marshes; and in a thirsty land there shall be a fountain of water." A fountain of living water from God in the desert, the knowledge of God, this Christ has released; who also among your own people...
irsty land there shall be a fountain of water.” A fountain of living water from God in the desert, the knowledge of God, this Christ has A released; who also among your own people appeared, and healed those who were from birth blind, and deaf, and lame in body, making one to leap, another to hear, and another to see by his word. And by raising the dead and making them live, he sought by these works to persuade the men of that time to acknowledge him. But those who saw these things taking place said it was a magical illusion; for they even dared to call him a magician and a deceiver of the people. But he did these things even with the intention of persuading those who were to believe in him that, even if any one should suffer from some bodily infirmity, if he should prove a guardian of the teachings handed down by him, he will, at his second coming, raise him up whole B and immortal, and incorruptible, and free from pain.
70. Even the mysteries of Mithras were distorted by the prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah. — But when those who hand down the mysteries of Mithras say that he was born from a rock, and call the place where they persuade those who believe in him to be initiated a cave, I understand that they have imitated what was said by Daniel, that a stone was cut out from a great mountain without hands, and that they have done this likewise, from which they have attempted to imitate all his words! For they have contrived that discussions concerning the observance of justice should also be had among them. But I must needs recount to you the words of Isaiah, so that you may know from them that things are so. They are of the following kind: “Hear, you who are far off, what I have done: those who draw near shall know my might. The transgressors in Sion have departed; trembling shall seize the ungodly. Who shall announce to you the eternal place? He who walks in righteousness, speaking the straight path, hating iniquity and injustice, and keeping his hands clean from bribes, stopping his ears so as not to hear the unjust judgment of blood, shutting his eyes so as not to see iniquity: he shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be trustworthy. You shall see the King with glory, and your eyes shall behold him from afar. C The soul D
shall meditate on the fear of the Lord. Where is the man of letters? Where are the counselors? Where is he who counts those who are nurtured, the small and the great people? With whom they did not take counsel, nor did they know the depth of the voices, so as not to hear. A despised people, and there is no understanding for the one who hears. A That therefore in this prophecy there is also a prediction concerning that bread which our Christ delivered to us to perform in remembrance of his having been made flesh 57 for the sake of his believers, for whom he also became passible; and concerning the cup which he delivered to us to perform in thanksgiving in remembrance of his blood, is apparent. And that this same prophecy declares that we shall see this King with glory; and that the people who were foreknown to believe in him would meditate 58 on the fear of the Lord was foreknown, the very words of the prophecy cry out; and that those who believe themselves to know the letters of the Scriptures and hear the prophecies have no understanding, these same Scriptures likewise shout. But when, O Trypho, I said, I hear that Perseus was born of a virgin, B I also understand that the deceitful serpent has imitated this.
71. But I do not put my trust in your teachers, who refuse to admit that what was interpreted by the seventy elders sent to Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, was well interpreted; but they themselves attempt to interpret. And that they have completely removed many Scriptures 40 from the translations...
which clearly prove that this very person who was crucified is both God and man, and is shown to be predicted as being crucified and dying, I wish you to know. Since I know that all those of your race deny these, I do not engage in such questions, but I proceed to conduct the investigation from those things which are still acknowledged by you. For as for all those that I brought forward to you, you recognize them, except that concerning the word: “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb,” you raised a dispute, asserting that it is said: “Behold, the young woman shall conceive in the womb.” And I promised to provide a demonstration that this prophecy was not spoken of Hezekiah, as you have been taught, but of this my Christ; and from the interpretations that were made by the elders who were with Ptolemy, B I will perform this demonstration.
And Trypho said, “First, we request you to tell us also some of those Scriptures which you say have been completely deleted.”
72. And I said, “As you please, I will do so. From those interpretations which Esdras explained concerning the law of the Passover, this explanation was removed: ‘And Esdras said to the people: This Passover is our Saviour and our refuge. And if you think and it rises in your heart, that we are to humble Him in a sign, and if after this we hope in Him, this place shall not be deserted for all time; says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, nor listen to His preaching, you shall be an object of derision to the nations.’ And from those things C through Jeremiah...
A they cut out these: ‘I was as a lamb that is brought to the slaughter. They devised a device against me, saying, Come, let us cast the tree into his bread, and let us destroy him out of the land of the living, and his name shall be remembered no more.’ And since this passage from the words of Jeremiah is still written in some copies in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is not long ago that they cut these out), and since it is proved from these words that the Jews took counsel against Christ to kill Him by crucifying Him—and He Himself is pointed out, as He was also prophesied by Isaiah as a sheep led to the slaughter, and here B He is indicated as an innocent lamb—being at a loss about these things, they proceed to blaspheme. And in like manner they cut out these things from the words of the same Jeremiah: ‘The Lord God remembered His dead of Israel who had fallen asleep in the land of the grave; and He descended to them to preach to them His salvation.’
73. And from the ninety-fifth Psalm, they took away these few words from the words spoken by David: ‘from the tree.’ For when it had been said: ‘Tell it among the nations, The Lord hath reigned C from the tree,’ they left only: ‘Tell it among the nations: The Lord hath reigned.’ But among you, there has never existed anyone of the men of your race who could be called God and Lord to have reigned among the nations, except this only crucified one, whom the Holy Spirit in that same psalm says that He, having been raised from the dead, is saved D
A from the nations, and declares that He is not like the gods of the nations; for those are the idols of demons. But that you may understand what is said, I will recite the whole psalm to you. It is this: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth; sing to the Lord, and bless His name. Bring the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples; for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is terrible above all gods; for all the gods of the nations are demons; but the Lord made the heavens. Confession and beauty are in His presence; holiness and greatness are in His sanctuary. Bring to the Lord, O families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord glory in His name. Take up sacrifices, and go into His courts; worship the Lord in His holy court. Let all the earth be moved from His presence; say among the nations: The Lord has reigned. For He established the world, which shall not be shaken; He shall judge the peoples in equity. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult; let the sea be moved, and its fullness. The fields shall rejoice, and all that is in them. All the trees of the wood shall exult from the presence of the Lord; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth."
And Trypho said, "If, as you say, the rulers of the people have B cut out something from the Scriptures, God knows; but such a thing seems incredible."
"Truly," I said, "it seems incredible. For it is something more horrible than the golden calf which they made, when they were filled with manna on earth, or than sacrificing their children to demons, or than slaying the prophets themselves. But indeed," I said, "suppose that you have not heard what I said about the Scriptures having been stolen by them. For what has been previously recorded C is more than enough for the demonstration of the matters in question, along with what is yet to be said.
A 74. But Trypho said: "We know that these things were read out by you at our request. But that psalm, which you last cited from the oracles of David, does not appear to me to have been spoken of anyone else, but of the Father who created the heaven and the earth. You, however, contend that it was spoken of this one who is subject to suffering, whom you also strive to demonstrate to be the Christ."
And I answered: "Give attention, I beg you, to the language which the Holy Spirit used in this psalm, and you will see that I am neither speaking wickedly, nor have you B been led astray; for in this way you will also be able to understand many other things spoken by the Holy Spirit, when you are by yourselves. 'Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord and bless His name. Evangelize from day to day His salvation, His wonders among all peoples.' Does He not command those who have come to know this salvation—that is, the passion of Christ, C through which He saved them—to sing and psalm to God and the Father of all things, who is from all the earth, when they have recognized that He is also praiseworthy, and terrible, and the Creator of both heaven and earth, who accomplished this salvation for the human race, and who, after being crucified and dying, was deemed worthy by Himself to reign over all the earth? And as even through the earth, into which this [people] enters to inhabit it, they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I made with them on that day; D and I will abandon them and turn My face from them; and [the people] will be food, and they will find many evils and tribulations; and it as also through the earth into which He said He would bring your fathers, it is manifest; for He spoke thus: 'This people will go a-whoring after the gods of strangers of the earth,' and 'I will be enraged with wrath against them.'"
'" A 75. *That the name of God in Exodus was Jesus is proven.* In the book of Exodus, concerning the name of God itself, which it says was not declared to Abraham nor to Jacob, Moses likewise proclaims cryptically that it was Jesus, and we have understood it. For it is said thus: "And the Lord said to Moses: Say to this people: Behold, I send my angel before thy face, that he may keep thee in the way, and may bring thee into the land which I have prepared for thee. Take notice of him and hear him: do not disobey him. For he will not forsake thee; for my name is in him." Who, therefore, brought your fathers into B the land, consider at long last; it was, of course, He who was called by this name Jesus, whereas previously he was called Auses. For if you consider this, you will also understand that the name of Him who said to Moses, "For my name is in him," was Jesus. For he was also called Israel, and he gave this surname to Jacob as well. And that the prophets who are sent to announce His commands are called angels and apostles of God is declared in Isaiah. For Isaiah says there: "Send me." And that the one who received the name Jesus was a strong and great prophet, is manifest to all. If, therefore, we know that God was manifested in so many forms to C Abraham and to Jacob and to Moses, why do we hesitate and mistrust that, according to the will of the Father of all, He could also be born as a man from a Virgin, especially since we have such Scriptures, from which it is possible to understand explicitly that this also happened according to the will of the Father?
76. *The same majesty and authority of Christ are proven from other passages.* For when Daniel calls Him "as a son of man," who receives the eternal kingdom, does he not suggest this very thing? For to say "as a son of man" indicates that He appeared and became man, yet declares that He did not derive His existence from human seed. And when he calls Him a stone cut without hands, it proclaims the same thing in a mystery. For to say that He was cut out without hands implies that it is not a human work, but of the will of the [Father].
A of all, God. And that Isaiah says: "Who shall declare His generation?" (Isa. LIII, 8), demonstrates that His lineage is inexpressible. For there is no one, since he is a man born of men, whose lineage is inexpressible. And as for Moses saying that He would wash His robe in the blood of the grape, is this not what I have already often hinted to you that he prophesied regarding Him? Because it indicated that He would have blood, but not from men; just as it was not a man who produced the blood of the vine, but God. And when Isaiah called Him the Angel of Great Counsel, did he not proclaim beforehand that He would come to be a teacher of these things which He taught when He arrived? For the great counsel which the Father determined both towards all those who have been pleasing to Him and those who shall be, and those men and angels who have departed from His will, this [Christ] alone taught openly, saying: B "They shall come from the East [and from the West] (Matt. VIII, 11), and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness." And: "Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and did we not prophesy and cast out demons? And I will say to them: Depart from me" (Matt. VII, 22). And in other words, through which He intends to condemn those unworthy of salvation, He said He would say: "Depart into the outer darkness, which the Father has prepared for Satan and his angels." And again in other words He said: "I give you C authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and scolopendrae, and upon all the power of the enemy" (Luc. X, 19). And now we, who believe in Jesus our Lord who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, as we exorcise all demons and evil spirits, have them subjected to us. For if it had been proclaimed enigmatically through the prophets that the Christ was going to suffer, and after these things would be Lord of all, still it could not be understood by anyone (69) until He Himself persuaded the apostles that these things had been explicitly proclaimed in the Scriptures. For He cried out before He was crucified: "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again" (Luc. IX, 22). And David D also prophesied that He would be born from the womb before the sun and the moon, that, according to the will of the Father...
He might be clearly declared A to be Christ, who is God, Mighty and to be worshipped.
77.
Return to the explanation of the prophecy of Isaiah.
Trypho: "I agree with you that there is enough in these many and great arguments to persuade; but I wish to ask you to demonstrate the Scripture that you have often promised to explain. B Dispatch it for us, therefore, so that we may see how you prove it to have been said of this Christ of yours. For we say that it was prophesied of Hezekiah."I replied: "As you wish, so shall I do. But demonstrate to me first, you who say it was spoken of Hezekiah, that before the child knew how to call father or mother, he took the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. For it will not be conceded to you, as you wish to interpret it, that Hezekiah waged war against those in Damascus or in Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. For, 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother,' the prophetic word says, 'he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.' C For if the prophetic Spirit had not spoken this with the addition: 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria,' but had only said, 'And he shall beget a son, and he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria,' you would have been able to say: 'Because God foreknew that Hezekiah was going to take these, He had foretold it.' But now, with this addition, the prophecy has spoken: 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.'"
D And indeed, the God and Father of all was to be born from a human womb. Since Christ is High Priest, having an unchangeable priesthood—neither beginning the priesthood from a period of time, nor having another successor to his high priesthood... neither anointed with manufactured oil, but begotten of the Father before the ages, and as much more excellent than others as He is a priest with an oath. Christ is called [anointed], not anointed by human hands, but by the Father eternally anointed into a priesthood that is beyond man, beyond men.
A And you are unable to demonstrate that this ever happened to any among the Jews. But we are able to demonstrate that this took place in our Christ. For immediately after He was born, Magi from Arabia arrived and worshipped Him, having first come to Herod, who at that time was king in your land; him the Scripture calls king of the Assyrians because of his godless and lawless mind. For you know, I said, that the Holy Spirit often speaks of such matters in parables and figures; just as also He has done concerning all the people who were in Jerusalem, often saying to them: "Your father is an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite 11."
78. For this King Herod, learning from the elders of your people, B when the Magi from Arabia came to him and said that from a star which appeared in the heaven they had known that a king had been born in your land, and that we have come to worship Him; and though he was taught by the elders of your people, 175 who answered in the city of Bethlehem that it is so written by the prophet: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come forth a leader, who will shepherd my people." The Magi from Arabia, therefore, having come into Bethlehem and worshipped the child, and having offered to Him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, because they were divinely warned after worshipping the child in Bethlehem not to return to Herod; and Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, having previously wished to cast out his betrothed Mary, thinking she was pregnant from intercourse with a man, that is, from fornication, was commanded C through a vision not to cast out his wife, the angel who appeared to him saying that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Struck with fear, he did not cast her out, but, as the census was then being held for the first time in Judea under Quirinius, he went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, whence he was, in order to register; for he was of the lineage of the tribe of Judah that inhabited that land. And he himself, along with Mary, was commanded to go away into Egypt, and to be there with the child, until it should be revealed to them again that they should return into Judea. But the child having been born then in Bethlehem, since Joseph had nowhere to lodge D in that village, he lodged in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there, Mary gave birth to Christ and laid Him in a manger, where He was found by the Magi who came from Arabia.
11 Ezech. xvi, 3. 175 Mich. v, 2.
[index: entries preserved]
But I have already told you that Isaiah had prophesied concerning the sign of the cave; 11 Ezech. xvi, 3. 175 Mich. v, 2. yet, for the sake of those who have come today with you, I will repeat the passage. I recalled that I had already cited the passage from Isaiah, and I said that it was because of those who deliver the mysteries of Mithras (80)—who teach that initiations are performed by him in a place they call a cave—that the devil had induced them to say these things. And Herod, when the Magi from Arabia did not return to him as he had asked them to do B but had departed according to their instructions by another way into their own country, and when Joseph, together with Mary and the Child, had already departed for Egypt as it had been revealed to them—not knowing which child the Magi had come to worship, he ordered all the children in Bethlehem to be put to death without exception. And this too had been prophesied as intended to come to pass, through Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit saying through him thus: « A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and much weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are not. » Therefore, on account of the voice that was to be heard from Rama, that is, from Arabia (for there is even to this day a place in Arabia called Rama), C weeping was to seize the place where Rachel, the wife of Jacob—the holy patriarch who was surnamed Israel—is buried, namely Bethlehem, as the women wept for their own children who had been slaughtered, and had no consolation for what had befallen them. For the saying of Isaiah, « He shall receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, » signified that the power of the wicked demon who dwelt in Damascus would be overcome by Christ as soon as He was born; which it is shown has occurred. For the Magi, who had been taken as spoils for all the evil deeds that were wrought by that demon, upon coming and worshipping Christ, are shown to have withdrawn from that power which had taken them as spoils, which the Word D indicates to us in a mystery to dwell in Damascus. And because it is sinful and unjust, in a parable He calls that power
A from among us Christians, to learn; but by no means to fight in every way to strengthen your own doctrines, while dishonoring those of God. And therefore this grace has been transferred to us, as Isaiah says, speaking thus: "This people draws near to me; with their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me; but in vain they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. Therefore, behold, I will add to remove this people, and I will remove them. And I will take away the wisdom of their wise men, and will set aside the understanding of their prudent men." B
79. B And Trypho, being indignant but reverent, as was evident from his countenance, said to me: "The things of God are holy; but your interpretations are artificial, as is apparent even from the things explained by you, or rather they are blasphemous; for you say that angels acted wickedly and revolted from God."
And I, wishing to prepare him to hear me with a more yielding voice, answered saying: "I admire this piety of yours, O man, and I pray that you may have the same disposition toward Him to whom it is written that the angels minister; as Daniel says, that as the Son of Man He is brought to the Ancient of Days, C and to Him is given all the kingdom forever and ever. But in order that you may know, O man, that we have not used our own audacity to employ this interpretation of which you complain, I will provide you with testimony from Isaiah himself, who says that evil angels have dwelt and do dwell in Tanis in the land of Egypt. And these are the words: 'Woe, you rebellious children, says the Lord. You have taken counsel, not through me, and covenants not through my Spirit, that you might add sins to sins; who go down to Egypt (but me they have not asked) to be helped by Pharaoh, and to be covered with the shelter of the Egyptians. For the shelter of Pharaoh shall be a shame to you, and to those who trust in the Egyptians a reproach; for there are in Tanis D evil ruling angels. They shall labor in vain for a people that shall not profit them for help, but for shame and reproach.' But also Zacharias says, as you yourself have mentioned, of the devil...
to see that the devil stood at the right hand of Jesus the priest, to oppose him, and that the Lord said: “The Lord who chose A Jerusalem rebuke thee.” And again it is written in the book of Job, as you yourself said, that the angels came to stand before the Lord, and the devil had come along with them. And we have it written by Moses in the beginning of Genesis that the serpent deceived Eve, and that he was cursed. And in Egypt we know that the magicians attempted to equal the power that was working through the faithful servant Moses by God; and David said, “Know that the gods of the nations are demons.”
80. But Trypho said to these things: I have already said to you, O man, that you are careful in all things to be engaged with the Scriptures. But tell me, do you truly admit that this place of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and do you expect that your people will be gathered together, and will rejoice with Christ together with B the patriarchs and the prophets, and with those of our own race, or even those who became proselytes before your Christ came; or did you concede these things in order to appear to us to prevail abundantly in controversies?
I answered: I am not so wretched, Trypho, as to say other things than what I think. I confessed to you therefore also before, that I and many others think this, as you also know completely that this will come to pass: but I also signified to you that many—even of those who belong to the pure and pious Christian opinion—do not recognize this. For as for those who are called Christians, but are in C reality atheists and impious heretics, that they teach in all respects blasphemous and atheistic and foolish doctrines, I have shown you. But that not only over you—
A and that you may know that I shall not do this only among you, I shall compose a treatise of all the arguments which we have had with each other, in which I shall describe myself as professing the same things as I profess to you. For I have chosen to follow not men or human doctrines, but God and the doctrines B delivered by Him. For if you have even met with some who are called Christians, and who do not admit this, but even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who also say that there is no resurrection of the dead, but that their souls are taken up to heaven at the very moment of their death, do not suppose that they are Christians; just as one, if he were to examine the matter rightly, would not acknowledge that the Sadducees, or the similar sects of the Genistae, and Meristae, C and Galilaeans, and Hellenians, and Pharisees, and Baptists (and do not be displeased at listening to everything that I think and say), are Jews, but individuals who are called Jews and children of Abraham, and who confess God with their lips, as He Himself cries out,
but hold their hearts far from Him. I, however, and whoever are orthodox Christians in all respects, A know that there will be a resurrection of the flesh and B a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and the others confess.
81. For Isaiah spoke thus concerning this thousand-year period: «For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former, nor shall they come into their heart; but they shall find joy and exultation in it, as many things as I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem an exultation, and my people a joy, and I will exult over Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people. And there shall no longer be heard in it the voice of weeping nor the voice of crying. And there shall not be there one untimely in days, and an old man who shall not fulfill his time. For the young man shall be a son of one hundred years; but the sinner who dies shall be a son of one hundred years, and he shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and they themselves shall inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and they themselves shall eat the fruits of them, and drink the wine; they shall not build, and others inhabit; and they shall not plant, and others eat. For according to the days of the tree of life, the days of my people shall be; the works of their labors shall abound. My elect shall not labor in vain, nor beget children for a curse; because they shall be a seed righteous and blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall be, before they call, I will hear them; while they are still speaking, I will say: What is it? Then wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion as an ox shall eat straw, and the serpent earth as bread. They shall not work evil, nor shall they destroy on the holy mountain, says the Lord.» The statement, therefore, made in these words—
«For as the days of the tree (7) shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall multiply»—we understand that it signifies a thousand years in a mystery. For since it was said to Adam, that in the day in which he should eat of the tree he should die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have also understood that the saying, «The day of the Lord is as a thousand years (9)», pertains to this. And because among us there is a certain man whose name is John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied that those who have believed in our Christ would live for a thousand years in Jerusalem, and that afterward the universal and, in short, eternal resurrection and judgment of all would simultaneously take place. Which is what our Lord also said: «They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal unto the angels, being the children of God of the resurrection (10).» B
82. For among us, even until now, there are prophetic gifts. From which you also ought to understand that those things which were formerly in your race have been transferred to us. Just as there were false prophets among the holy prophets who were with you, so also now there are many false teachers among us, against whom our Lord warned us to be on our guard, so that nothing might come upon us unprepared, since we know that He was foreknowing of the things which were to happen to us after His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven. For He said that we would be murdered and hated because of His name, and that many false prophets and false Christs would come in His name and would deceive many; which is indeed what has happened. For many have taught, misrepresenting what is impious and blasphemous and wicked in His name, and have taught, and still teach, the things injected into their minds by the unclean, C devilish spirit; whom we struggle to persuade, just as you, not to be led astray, knowing that everyone who is able to speak the truth and does not speak it, will be judged by God, as God testified through Ezekiel, saying: «I have set thee as a watchman to the house of Judah. If...»
the sinner shall sin, and thou shalt not testify to him, he indeed shall perish in his sin, but I will require his blood at thy hand. But if thou shalt testify to him, thou shalt be guiltless.» Therefore, for fear of this, we also strive to speak according to the Scriptures, and not for the sake of love of money, or love of glory, or love of pleasure. For no one can convict us of being anything of the sort. B We do not wish to live like the rulers of your people, whom God reproaches, saying: «Your rulers are companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing recompense.» But if you recognize any such persons among us, do not for their sake blaspheme the Scriptures and Christ, and strive to misinterpret them.
85. Indeed, even that which says: «The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet,» your teachers have dared to interpret as having been spoken concerning Hezekiah, as if he were commanded to sit at the right side of the temple, when the king of Assyria sent to him with threats, and it was signified to him through Isaiah not to fear him. And that what was said by Isaiah did indeed come to pass, and that the king of Assyria was turned away so as not to C war against Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, and that an angel of the Lord slew of the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand, we both know and confess. But that the psalm was not spoken of him is evident. For it runs thus: «The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. The Lord shall send forth a rod of power upon Jerusalem, and he shall rule in the midst of thine enemies. In the splendor of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten thee. The Lord swore, and will not repent: Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.» That Hezekiah, therefore, is not a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, who does not admit? And that he is not the one who redeems Jerusalem, who does not know? And that he himself did not «send forth a rod of power» into Jerusalem, D and rule in the midst of his enemies, but God was the one who turned them away from him...
who does not know? But our Jesus, not yet having come in glory, sent forth a rod of power into Jerusalem - the word of calling and of repentance to all nations, where demons ruled over them, as David says: «The gods of the nations are demons.» And his powerful word persuaded many to abandon the demons whom they served, and through him to believe in the almighty God, that the gods of the nations are demons. And that which was said, «In the splendors of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you,» was said to Christ, as I have previously stated.
84. And that which was said, «Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son,» was foretold concerning him. For if this one, of whom Isaiah spoke, was not to be born of a Virgin, who was it concerning whom the Holy Spirit cried out: «Behold, the Lord himself shall give us a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son»? For if he too were to be born from sexual union just like all other firstborns, why did God say he would perform a sign which is not common to all firstborns? But that which is truly a sign and was to be faithful to the race of men, that is, that the Firstborn of all creation, having become flesh through a virgin womb, truly became a child, this he anticipated through the prophetic Spirit, in one way and another, I have recounted to you, and he proclaimed it, so that when it should come to pass, it might be known to have happened by the power and will of the Creator of all things; just as Eve was made from one of Adam’s ribs, and just as all other living creatures were born from the beginning by the word of God. But you even in these matters dare to pervert the interpretations which your elders gave when they were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, saying that the Scripture does not hold what they interpreted, but, «Behold,» he says, «the young woman shall have in the womb,» as if great things...
were signified if a woman were to bring forth from sexual intercourse; which all young women do, except the barren, although God is able to effect that even these give birth, if He wills. For the mother of Samuel, when she could not give birth, gave birth by the will of God; so also the wife of Abraham, that holy patriarch, and Elizabeth, who brought forth John the Baptist, and certain others likewise. So you must not suppose it is impossible for God to do everything He wills. And especially since it was prophesied that it would come to pass, do not dare to falsify or misinterpret the prophecies, since you will only harm yourselves, but you will not injure God. A 85. For the prophecy that says, «Lift up your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, that the King of glory may enter» B, some of you dare to interpret as being said of Hezekiah, and others of Solomon; but it cannot be demonstrated to have been said of him, nor of the other, nor of any other one at all of your kings, but only of this our Christ, who appeared without form and inglorious, as Isaiah and David and all the Scriptures testify; who is the Lord of hosts by the will of the Father who gave it to Him; who also rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, as both the psalm and the other Scriptures demonstrated, and proclaimed Him Lord of hosts, which it is easy for you even now to perceive from the things C that take place before your eyes, if you will. For by the name of this very Son of God, and Firstborn of all creation, who was born of a Virgin, and became a man subject to suffering, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate by your people, and died, and rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, every demon is adjured, conquered, and subjected. But if you adjure by the name of any of those who have been among you, whether kings, or righteous men, or prophets, or patriarchs, no demon will be subjected. But if any of you should adjure by the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, perhaps he will be subjected. However, those of you who are exorcists now use the art, as the nations do, D employing fumigations and incantations.
A And that there are angels and powers—whom the word of the prophecy through David commands to lift up the gates, so that this Lord of powers, Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead, may enter according to the will of the Father—the word of David similarly demonstrates. I shall mention this again for the sake of those who were not with us yesterday; for their sake I also recount many of the things said yesterday in summary. And now, if I say this to you, even if I have repeated myself many times, I know it is not absurd to say it. For it is ridiculous to see the sun, the moon, and the other stars always following the same path and performing the B changes of the seasons, and yet to maintain that a man skilled in arithmetic—if he is asked how much twice two is—should, because he has often said "four," henceforth stop saying it is four, and so on for other things which are firmly agreed upon and should always be spoken of and acknowledged in the same way; yet one who draws his discourse from the prophetic Scriptures should set aside the Scriptures and not always refer to the same ones, but imagine that he can express something better than what the Scripture has produced. The word, therefore, by which he signified that God C declared that there are also angels and powers in heaven is this: "Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest. Praise him all his angels, praise him all his powers" 33.
And one of those who had come with them on the second day, by the name of Mnaseas, said: "We also are glad that you are trying to say the same things again for our sake."
I answered: "Listen, friends, to the Scripture that persuaded me to do this. Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies; which was also proclaimed through Isaiah D […]*
[*Note: The original text breaks off here at the bottom of the page, where the Greek column transitions to the Latin summary.]
nemies; which was also proclaimed through Isaiah A in many ways, in which is also the mystery of our regeneration, and simply of all those who expect Christ to appear in Jerusalem, and who strive to please Him by their works. The words of Isaiah are these: "Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word. Say, 'Our brethren,' to those who hate you and who abhor you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified. He has appeared in their joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of a cry from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord rendering recompense to the proud. Before the one in labor gives birth, and before the pain of labor comes, she has brought forth a male child. Who has heard such a thing, and who has seen thus? If the earth has labored in one day, or if she has brought forth a nation at once; because Sion has labored and brought forth her children? But I have given this expectation, and to her who does not bear," says the Lord. "Behold, I have made her who bears to be barren," says the Lord. "Rejoice, Jerusalem, and hold a gathering, all you who love her. Rejoice, all you who mourn over her, that you may suck and be filled from the breast of her consolation; that after you have sucked, you may be delighted by the entrance of His glory."
86. The figure of the wood of the cross, by which Christ reigned, in the Old Testament. — Having recited these, I added: "But hear also the symbol of the wood of life, which was said to have been planted in Paradise, and of those things which were to happen to all the righteous, which the Scriptures demonstrate again gloriously, B after He had been crucified, He would come again. Moses was sent with a rod for the deliverance of the people; and holding this in his hands, at the head of the people, he divided the sea. Through it, he saw water gushing from the rock; and by casting wood into the water in Marah, which was bitter, he made it sweet. By casting rods into the water-troughs, Jacob succeeded in having his mother's brother's sheep conceive, so that he might possess their offspring himself. In his rod, the same Jacob boasts that he crossed the river. He said also that he saw a ladder, and the Scripture C says that God was supported upon it."
A And that it was not the Father, we have shown from the Scriptures. And that Jacob poured oil upon a stone in the same place, it is testified that he anointed a pillar for God who had appeared to him, by that very God who had appeared to him. And that Christ is symbolically preached as a stone through many Scriptures, we have likewise shown; and that all anointing, whether of oil, or of stacte, or of any other of the ingredients for the composition of perfume, belonged to Him, we have likewise shown, as the Word says: “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness B beyond your companions.” For indeed all kings and anointed ones partook of this, that they might be called kings and anointed ones, just as He himself received from the Father the title of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel, and whatever other such titles He has or had. Aaron’s rod, having brought forth a blossom, declared him high priest. Isaiah prophesied that Christ would spring from the root of Jesse. And David says of the righteous man: “Like the tree that is planted by the streams of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall.” And it is said that the righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree. God appeared to Abraham by an oak, as it is written, at the oak of Mamre. The people found seventy willows and twelve springs after crossing the Jordan. David says that he received consolation from God in a rod and a staff. Elisha, having cast a piece of wood into the river Jordan, recovered the iron of the axe, with which the sons of the prophets had gone out to cut wood for the building of the house, in which they wished to speak and meditate upon the law and the commandments of God; C just as He, having redeemed us who were immersed in the most grievous sins which we have committed, through the wood in which He was crucified and through the water by which we are purified, has made us a house of prayer and adoration. And there was a rod which showed Judah to be the father of those born of Tamar, through a great mystery.
87. D Trypho, when I had said these things, said: "Do not henceforth suppose that I am trying to refute what is said by you, but that I am making inquiries about whatever I may ask, and that I wish to learn about these very things which I question. Tell me, therefore, through Isaiah’s saying..."
“There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from the root of Jesse; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him” (and having confessed those things to me, he said, “You say this was spoken of Christ, yet you say that he pre-existed as God, and that he was made flesh according to the will of God, and was born a man from the Virgin; how can it be demonstrated that he pre-existed, he who is filled by the powers of the Holy Spirit which Scripture enumerates through Isaiah, as if he were in need of them?”)
I answered: “Most acutely and most prudently have you asked; for it truly seems to be a place for doubt. But in order that you may see the reason for these things as well, listen to what I am about to say. The Scripture does not say that these powers of the Spirit, which were enumerated above, came down upon him because he was in need B of them, but that they were about to find rest in him—that is, that they were to have their end in him—so that no prophets of the ancient manner would exist any longer among your nation; which is something you yourselves can see with your own eyes. For after him, no prophet whatsoever has existed among you. And that the prophets among you, each receiving one or another power from God, did and spoke the things which we also have learned from the Scriptures, consider what is said by me. For Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, Daniel that of understanding and counsel, Moses that of strength and piety, Elijah that of fear, and Isaiah that of knowledge; and the others likewise had either one power each, or by turns one along with another; such as Jeremiah, and the twelve, and David, and all the others generally who have been prophets among you. C Therefore it ‘rested,’ that is, it ceased, once he had come, in whose days (which were spent by him among men) this dispensation was to have its end among you, and through resting in him, those gifts were to be poured out again, as had been predicted, which he bestows from the grace of the power of that Spirit upon those who believe in him, as he judges each to be worthy. That it had been predicted that this was to happen by him after his ascension into heaven, I have already said, and I say it again.”
He said, therefore: “He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to the sons of men.” D And again in another prophecy it is said: “And it shall be hereafter, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and upon his servants…”
and “upon my handmaids, and they shall prophesy.”
88. And among us, there are both men and women who possess gifts from the Spirit of God. A Wherefore, it was not because He was in need of power that it was prophesied that the powers enumerated by Isaiah would come upon Him, but because they would not exist after Him. And let this also be a testimony to you, which I said to you happened through the Magi from Arabia, who, as soon as the child was born, came and worshipped Him. For since He was born, He possessed His own power; and as He grew up according to the common manner of all other men, using those things that were suitable, He assigned to each B stage of growth what was proper, being nourished on all sorts of food, and remaining for thirty years or more, or even less, until John came forth as the herald of His advent, and went before Him in the way of baptism, as I have already demonstrated. And then, when Jesus had come to the Jordan river, where John was baptizing, as Jesus descended into the water, a fire was also kindled in the Jordan; and when He came up from the water, His apostles wrote that the Holy Spirit C had alighted upon Him like a dove. And we do not know that He came to the river because He Himself needed to be baptized, or because the Spirit came in the form of a dove; just as He did not endure being born and crucified because He was in need of these things, but for the sake of the race of men, which had fallen under death and the deception of the serpent from Adam, while everyone else acted wickedly through their own fault. For God, wishing both angels and men, possessed D of free choice and self-determination, to do whatever He had empowered each one to be able to do, created them such that, if they chose what was pleasing to Him, He would keep them free from corruption and punishment; but if they acted wickedly, He would punish each one according to his own judgment. For neither was it because He was in need, as we have demonstrated to have been predicted, that He entered Jerusalem riding on an ass; but [this was to show] that...
power was being worked in Him to be the Christ; rather, it brought a token to men that He is the Christ. In the same way, it was necessary that there be a token to men regarding John, so that they might recognize who the Christ is. For when John sat by the Jordan and preached a baptism of repentance, wearing only a leather girdle and a garment made of camel's hair, and eating nothing but locusts and wild honey, the people supposed him to be the Christ. To whom he also cried out: "I am not the Christ, but the voice of one crying. For there shall come a *mightier than I; whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to bear." And when Jesus had come to the Jordan, and was thought to be the son of Joseph the carpenter, and appeared without comeliness, even as the Scriptures had proclaimed, and was thought to be a carpenter (for He used to work at the tasks of a carpenter B when He was among men, making plows and yokes; and through these means He taught the symbols of righteousness and an active life), the Holy Spirit, also for the sake of men, as I have already said, flew down upon Him in the form of a dove; and a voice came from the heavens, which had also been spoken by David as though from His own person, reciting what the Father was about to say to Him: "You are My Son; this day have I begotten You" (Ps. CXVII, 20); stating [that] His birth [took place] for mankind at the time when knowledge of Him was about to come to them: "You are My Son; this day have I begotten You."
89. C But Trypho said, "Know that I am aware that our whole nation expects the Christ, and that all the Scriptures which you have brought forward have been spoken toward Him, we acknowledge. And I also confess that I have been moved by the name Jesus, which was given to the son of Nave, to be concerned even with this. But that the Christ should be so dishonorably crucified, we are in doubt. For the one who is crucified is said in the Law to be accursed. So that, regarding this, [we are] at a loss..."
That the Scriptures preach the Christ as one who is to suffer is manifest; but whether he is to suffer that kind of death which is cursed in the Law, we wish to learn, if you have anything to demonstrate regarding this matter as well.
If the Christ were not to suffer, I say to him, nor had the prophets predicted that he would be led to death for the iniquities of the people, and be treated with dishonor, and be scourged, and be numbered among the lawless, and be led as a sheep to the slaughter, the birth of whom no one can explain, as the prophet says, it would be well to wonder. But if this is that which characterizes him and signals him to all, how can we not have believed in him with confidence? And whoever has understood the words of the prophets will assert that this is he, and no other, if only they hear that he was crucified.
90. And we, he said, are persuaded by the Scriptures, so that we too might believe. For we know that he is to suffer, and that he is to be led as a sheep; but demonstrate to us whether he is also to be crucified, and in such a shameful and dishonorable way to die by the death that is cursed in the Law. For we cannot even come to a thought of this.
You know, I said, that whatever the prophets said and did, as has also been admitted by you, they revealed through parables and signs, so that most of them could not be easily understood by all, hiding the truth within them, so that those who sought to find and learn might have to labor. And they said: And it is admitted by us.
You might hear, then, I said, what follows. For Moses first revealed this apparent curse of his, through the signs which he performed. Of what signs, he said, do you speak? B When the people, I said, were warring against Amalek, and the son of Nave—who was surnamed by the name of Jesus—led the battle, Moses himself... C D
A prayed to God, extending his hands on both sides; and Aaron and Hur supported them all day, lest they should be lowered when he grew weary. For if there was any remission of this figure, which imitates the cross, as it is written in the books of Moses, the people were defeated; but if he remained in this arrangement, Amalek was defeated, and was powerful, he was powerful through the cross. For it is not because Moses prayed in this manner that the people became the stronger, but because, while the name of Jesus was at the beginning of the battle, he himself performed the sign of the cross B. For who among you is unaware that prayer—especially when accompanied by lamentation and tears, or by prostration and the bending of the knees—best propitiates God? But sitting on a stone in this manner, neither he nor anyone else prayed afterward. And the stone itself serves as a symbol, as I have demonstrated, pointing toward Christ.
91.
The cross foretold in the blessings of Joseph and by the raised serpent.
And God, by another method, indicated through Moses the power of the mystery of the cross, when He said in the blessing with which He blessed Joseph: “From the blessing of the Lord is his land; from the C seasons of the heavens, and from the dew, and from the abyss of the fountains below, and from the fruits of the seasons of the sun, and from the conjunctions of the months, and from the head of the beginning of the mountains, and from the head of the hills, and from the ever-flowing rivers, and from the fullness of the fruits of the earth; and let the things acceptable to Him who appeared in the bush come upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of his head. Glorious among his brothers, the first-born of the bull is his beauty; his horns are the horns of a unicorn; D with them he shall push the nations together even to the end of the earth.” For one could not say or demonstrate that the horns of a unicorn belong to any other thing or shape, if not to the type which shows the cross.A For there is one upright piece of wood, from which the highest part is lifted up into a horn, when the other piece of wood is fitted on, and the ends appear on both sides like horns joined to the one horn 72. And that which is fixed in the middle, upon which those who are crucified are seated, also stands out like a horn; and it is seen to be shaped and fixed like a horn together with the other horns. And the saying, “With these he shall push the nations together even to the end of the earth,” is a demonstration of the matter which has now come to pass among all nations. For they were "pushed"—that is, stung or pierced—who, from among all the nations, through this mystery, were turned from vain idols and demons to the true worship of God. To the unbelievers, the same sign is revealed as being for their destruction and condemnation; just as among the people who had come out of Egypt, by means of the type of the stretching out of the hands of Moses, and by the naming of the name of Jesus, son of Nave, Amalek was defeated while Israel was winning. B And it is evident also that through the type and sign of the raising up of the snakes against those who were biting Israel 73, salvation occurred for those who believed—since it was proclaimed from that time forth to the serpent that by the one who was to be crucified, death would come to pass, and salvation would be granted to those who have been bitten by it and who flee for refuge to Him who sent into the world His Son who was to be crucified. For the prophetic Spirit did not teach us to believe in the serpent through Moses, seeing that He also reveals that it was cursed 74 by God from the beginning, and signifies through Isaiah that it shall be destroyed as an enemy by the “great sword,” which is Christ.
92. If, therefore, one does not receive from God the great grace to understand the things said and done by the prophets, it will profit him nothing to appear to recite the sayings or the events, if he cannot also provide the reason for them. C But will they not also seem contemptible to the many because they are spoken by those who do not understand them? For if anyone wished to examine you, saying that Enoch and Noah together with his children, and any others such as they, were well-pleasing to God, though they were neither circumcised nor kept the Sabbath, what is the reason for this…
A imposition of laws and differing ordinances following so many generations, by which God willed that those from Abraham until Moses should be justified by circumcision, and those after Moses both by circumcision and by other precepts—namely, the Sabbath, sacrifices, ashes, and offerings—if you cannot demonstrate, as I have said, that this was because God, being prescient of all things, knew that your people would merit being driven from Jerusalem, and that no one would be permitted to enter there? For you are distinguished by no other thing, as I have already said, than this circumcision of the flesh. For God did not testify that Abraham was righteous because of circumcision, but because of faith. For before he was circumcised, it is written of him thus: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." B And we, therefore, who have believed in God through Christ, and possess that circumcision which is profitable for us who have acquired it—that is, the circumcision of the heart—hope to be found righteous and well-pleasing to God, since we have already received testimony of this from Him through the prophetic words.
And that you were commanded to keep the Sabbath and to bring offerings, and that the Lord allowed a place to be called by His name, was done—unless you can demonstrate otherwise—lest, as we have said, by falling into the worship of idols and becoming forgetful of God, you should become impious and atheistic, as it is evident you have always been. (And that this was the reason why God enacted laws concerning Sabbaths and offerings has been demonstrated by me above; but for the sake of those who have arrived today, I wish to repeat almost all the same things.) C If this is not the case, I say, God will be slandered, as if He were neither prescient of the future, nor had taught all men to know and observe the same justice (for it is clear that many generations of men existed before Moses), and as if the Scripture were not true which says that God is true and righteous, and all His ways are judgments, and there is no iniquity in Him. But because the Scripture is true, God does not wish you to remain always as you are—foolish and lovers of yourselves—so that you might be saved with Christ, D who was well-pleasing to God, and by Him, as from the holy...
93. This same rationale of justice is delivered to all men. Christ comprises it in two commandments. For the things that are always and everywhere just, and the whole of justice, are exhibited in every race of men; nor is there any race that is ignorant that adultery is an evil, and fornication, and murder, and whatever other things are like to these. And even if all men do them, yet they are not thereby exempt from the knowledge that they are acting unjustly when they perform these deeds, except for those who, filled with an unclean spirit and corrupted by poor upbringing, base customs, and wicked laws, have lost the natural notions, or rather have extinguished them, or hold them suppressed. B For it is possible to see even such men not wishing to suffer the same things that they themselves inflict upon others, and in their own conscience rebuking one another for the things they perpetrate. Whence it seems to me to have been well said by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that all justice and piety are fulfilled in two commandments. And they are these: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength; and your neighbor as yourself." For he who loves God with all his heart and with all his strength, being full of a pious sentiment, will worship no other god; but he will also worship that angel whom God wills, him who is loved by the Lord and God himself. And he who loves his neighbor as himself will wish for him the same good things that he wishes for himself; and no one wishes for evils to befall himself. Therefore, he who loves his neighbor will both pray for, and strive to bring about for him, the same things he does for himself. Now, a man's neighbor is nothing else than that animal subject to the same sufferings and endowed with reason, which is man. C Since, therefore, all justice is divided into two parts, towards God and towards men, whoever, the Word says, loves the Lord God with all his heart and with all his strength, and his neighbor as himself, would truly be just. But you, having never shown love or charity towards God, nor towards the prophets, nor towards yourselves, but always, as is manifest, having shown yourselves to be both idolaters and slayers of the just D
ita ut ipsi A even reach even Christ with your hands, and even until now persist in your wickedness, cursing both Him and those who demonstrate that this crucified One is Christ. And in addition to this, you insist on demonstrating that He was crucified as an enemy of God and one who is accursed; which is truly a work of your irrational mind. For since you have the means of understanding from the signs performed by Moses that this is the Christ, you not only do not wish to do so, but, considering that we might be able to corner you, you propose whatever questions come into your mind, yet you yourselves have nothing to say when you encounter a more steadfast Christian.
94. Tell me, then: Is God not the One who commanded through Moses to make no image or likeness B at all, either of the things in heaven above or of the things on earth below, and yet He Himself, in the wilderness, caused the bronze serpent to be made through Moses, and set it upon a sign, by which sign those who were bitten were saved? And He is free from the charge of injustice. For He was proclaiming a mystery through this, as I have already said, by which He was proclaiming that He would destroy the power of the serpent, which brought about the transgression by Adam, and was proclaiming salvation to those who believe in Him who was to be the subject of this sign—that is, in Him who was to be crucified—from the bites of the serpent, which are wicked actions, idolatries, and other injustices. Unless this is understood, give me a reason why Moses set up C the bronze serpent upon a sign and told those who were bitten D to look at it.
and why he did so even though he himself had decreed that no likeness of anything at all should be made.
The other of those who had arrived on the second day said: You have spoken truly; we have no answer to give. For I myself have often asked our teachers about this, and no one has given me an answer. Therefore, continue what you have begun to say; for we are listening to you as you reveal a mystery, and explain why the oracles of the prophets are exposed to calumnies.
I replied: Just as God commanded the sign to be made by means of the bronze serpent, and yet is not to blame, so also in the Law a curse lies upon men who are crucified, but it does not lie upon Christ of God, through whom all who have committed things worthy of a curse are saved by God.
95. For all the human race will be found to be under a curse. For it is said in the Law of Moses: "Cursed is every one who does not remain in the things that are written in the book of the Law, to do them." And no one has ever kept all things exactly, and you yourselves will not dare to deny this; but some have kept the commandments more and some less than others. But if it is evident that those who are under this Law are under a curse because they have not kept all things, will it not be much more evident that all the Gentiles who worship idols, commit outrage upon boys, and do other wicked things, are under a curse? If, then, the Father of all wished for his own Christ to take upon himself the curses of all, for the sake of men of every race, knowing that he would raise him up after he had been crucified and had died, why do you speak of him as if he had been cursed, he who endured these things according to the will of the Father, and why do you not rather lament for yourselves? For even if the Father and he himself brought it about that he should suffer these things for the human race, you did not act as though serving the counsel of God; for neither did you display piety by putting the prophets to death. And let no one among you say: If the Father wished him to suffer these things so that by his stripes the human race might be healed, we have done no wrong. If you say these things, intending to repent of your sins, and acknowledging that this is the Christ, and keeping his commandments, I have already said that there will be forgiveness of sins for you. But if you continue to curse both him and those who believe in him, and if, whenever you have the power, you kill them, how will vengeance for the hands you have laid upon him not be exacted from you, as from unjust and sinful men, and those whose hearts are altogether hardened and insensate?
A For the phrase in the Law, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," does not mean that God curses this crucified one; rather, it confirms the hope we have attached to the Christ who was crucified, since God had foreshown that your entire nation, and those like you, would not know that he is the one who exists before all things, and the eternal priest of God, and King, and Christ who was to come. And this is something you may see happening before your own eyes. For in your synagogues you curse all those who have been made Christians through him, and the other nations act with effect upon that curse, putting to death those who merely confess themselves to be Christians. To all of them we say: "You are our brothers; rather, recognize the truth of God." And since neither you nor they are persuaded by us, but even strive to make us deny the name of Christ, we prefer to suffer death rather than renounce it, convinced that God will grant us all the good things he has promised through Christ. B And in addition to all this, we pray for you, that you may receive mercy from Christ. For he even taught us to pray for our enemies, saying: "Love your enemies; be kind and merciful, just as your heavenly Father is." For we see that the almighty God is kind and merciful, making his sun to rise upon the ungrateful and the just alike, and sending rain upon the holy and the wicked; and he has taught that he is also to judge them all.
C Nor, furthermore, was it a trivial thing that the prophet Moses, while Hur and Aaron supported his hands, remained in that posture until evening. For the Lord also remained on the tree almost until evening, and at evening they buried him; he then rose again on the third day. This had been foretold through David in these words: "I cried aloud with my voice to the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord took me to himself." And it was similarly said concerning this through Isaiah regarding the manner in which he was to die: "I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." And that he would rise again, Isaiah himself...
A says: "His burial is taken away from the midst, and I will give the rich for his death." And in other parts, David, speaking of the passion and the cross in a mysterious allegory, says thus in the twenty-first psalm: "They pierced my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They considered and looked upon me; they divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots."
For when they crucified him, driving in the nails, they pierced his hands and his feet; and those who had crucified him divided his garments among themselves, casting lots for each item according to the decision of the lot, as each one wished to choose. And you deny that this same psalm is spoken of Christ, being B blind in all respects, and not understanding that no one in your race, even if he were called king or Christ, has ever had his feet and hands pierced while alive and died through this mystery—that is, by being crucified—except this Jesus alone.
98. I shall produce the whole psalm so that you may hear his piety toward the Father, and how he refers all things to him, and through him seeks to be saved from this death; at the same time showing in the psalm what sort of people those were who set themselves against him, and proving that he truly became a man susceptible to suffering. The psalm is as follows: "O God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me? The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation. O my God, I cry to you by day, and you do not hear; and by night, and C not for lack of understanding on my part. But you dwell in the holy place, O pride of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and the offscouring of the people. All who looked upon me mocked me; they spoke with their lips, they wagged their head: He trusted in the Lord, let him deliver him; let him save him, seeing that he delights in him. For you are he who drew me out of the womb, my hope from my mother's breasts; I was cast upon you from the womb. From my mother's womb you are my God; do not depart from me, for tribulation is near, for there is none to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They have opened their mouth against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. Like water my bones have been poured out and scattered."
A My heart also has become like wax, melting in the midst of my belly. My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat, and you have brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have surrounded me; a gathering of evil-doers has enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones. But they have looked and stared upon me; they have divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not remove your help from me; look toward my defense. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humility from the horns of unicorns. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the Church I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him.
99. Having said these things, I continued: "Now, that the whole psalm was spoken in this manner concerning Christ, I will further demonstrate to you through the things I shall explain in interpreting it once more." Therefore, what it says immediately: «O God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me?»—this was foretold from of old, which was to be said at the time of Christ. For when fastened to the cross, he said: «O God, my God, why have you forsaken me?» And the following: «Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions. O my God, I will cry by day and you will not hear, and by night, and not out of ignorance to me;» these things were spoken just as those things which Christ was about to do were spoken. For on the day when he was to be crucified, having brought with him three of the disciples up to the mount called Mount of Olives, which is situated opposite the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed, saying: «Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.» Then he added this prayer: «Not as I will, but as you will.» By these words he declares that he had truly become a man subject to suffering. But lest anyone say: "He was ignorant, then, that he was about to suffer," he immediately adds in the psalm: «And not out of ignorance to me.» For just as it was not out of ignorance for God to ask Adam where he was, nor Cain where Abel was, but so that he might convict each one as to what kind of person he is, and so that the knowledge of all things might come down to us through being written; D so also Christ declares that he did not [speak] in ignorance of his own self, but [to convince] those who think he is not Christ, but...
that he would be put to death, and that he would remain in Hades as a common man. A
100. In what sense Christ [is called] Jacob and Israel and [is the] Son of Man. — But what follows: “But thou dwellest in the holy place, O praise of Israel,” declared that he was to do a thing worthy of praise and admiration, as one who was to rise from the dead on the third day after the punishment of the cross: a thing which he has received from the Father. For I have shown that Christ is called both Jacob and Israel; and I have shown that the matters concerning him were mystically proclaimed not only in the blessing of Joseph and Judah, but it is also written in the Gospel that he said: “All things have been delivered unto me by the Father,” and “No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son shall reveal him.” He has therefore revealed to us all things whatsoever that we have understood by his grace even from the Scriptures, acknowledging him to be the firstborn of God, and before all created things; and the son of the patriarchs, inasmuch as, having become flesh by the Virgin who was of their lineage, he endured to become a man who is uncomely, dishonored, and subject to sufferings. B Whence also he said in his discourses, when he was discussing that he was about to suffer, that “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Pharisees and Scribes, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” He called himself the Son of Man, either because of his birth by the Virgin, which was (as I have said) of the lineage of David, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham; or because Abraham himself was the father of those whom I have enumerated, from whom Mary traces her lineage. For we know that the fathers of children born to their daughters are the progenitors of their offspring. And indeed, one of his disciples, who had recognized him to be Christ the Son of God by the revelation of his Father, he called Peter, C whereas he was previously called Simon; and since we find him written in the memoirs of his apostles as the Son of God, and we call him Son, we have understood that he proceeded from the Father by his power and will before all created things (who is also called Wisdom, and Day, and East, and Sword, and Stone, and Rod, and Jacob, and Israel, in one way or another in the words of the prophets), and that he became man by the Virgin, in order that the way by which the disobedience arising from the serpent took its beginning might also receive its dissolution by the same way. For Eve, when she was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word from the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary, having received faith and joy, when the angel D...
A Gabriel brought her the good news that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, and therefore the Holy One born of her is the Son of God, she answered: "Be it done to me according to your word." And of her was born He, concerning whom we have demonstrated that these Scriptures were spoken; by whom God destroys the serpent and those angels and men who have become like him; but procures release from death for those who repent of their evil deeds and believe in Him.
101. Christ refers everything to the Father. — Now, what follows in the psalm: "In you our fathers hoped; they hoped, and you delivered them. To you they cried out, and they were not put to shame. But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men and the rejection of the people," declares that those B who hoped in God and were saved by Him are acknowledged by Him as fathers, even such as were the fathers of that Virgin through whom He was born, having become man; and at the same time, He reveals that He Himself was to be saved by the same God, and does not boast that He did anything by His own will or power. For He did the very same thing on earth; when someone said to Him, "Good Master," He answered: "Why do you call me good? One is good, that is, my Father who is in heaven." And as for the saying, "I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and the rejection of the people," these were things C clearly predicted to Him as destined to happen and as present. For to us men who believe in Him, there is reproach everywhere; and "rejection of the people," because by your people He was held in contempt and treated with ignominy, and suffered those things which you conspired against Him. And what follows: "All who saw me, mocked me; and they spoke with their lips, and moved their head: He hoped in the Lord; let Him deliver him, since He desires him," likewise predicted that these same things would happen to Him. For those who saw Him crucified moved their heads, each one of them, and twisted their lips, and sneering with their noses at one another D remarked in mockery those things which are written in the memoirs of His apostles: "He claimed to be the Son of God; let Him come down and walk about; let God save Him."
102. The prophecy of those things which happened to Christ when He was born. Why God permitted this. — Now what follows: "My hope from my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from the womb. From my mother's womb you are my God; there is not yet help for me. Surrounded me have calves..."
A many; fat bulls have surrounded me. They opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravaging and roaring. Like water I have been poured out, and all my bones have been scattered. My heart has become like wax melting in the midst of my belly. My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my throat; these words were a proclamation of the things that were to come to pass. For just as, when he was born in Bethlehem, as I have already stated, King Herod heard from the Magi who came from Arabia about him and plotted to take his life, so Joseph, by the command of God, took him along with Mary and departed into Egypt. For the Father who had begotten him had determined that he should not be put to death before he had reached manhood and had preached the word which came from Him.
If, however, someone should say to us, "Could God not have killed Herod instead?" I shall answer in anticipation: Could God not have removed the serpent from the beginning so that it would not exist, and could He not have refrained from saying, B "And I will put enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed?" Could He not have immediately created a multitude of human beings? But, as He judged it to be good that they should come into being, He created both angels and men empowered with free will to perform righteous deeds. And He determined the times during which He knew it was good for them to possess free will. And because He judged it similarly to be good, He enacted both general and particular judgments, while free will nonetheless remained. Whence the Scripture, in the account of the building of the tower and the manifold division and changing of languages, says this: "And the Lord said: Behold, one genus and one language for all; and this they have begun to do, and now they will not fail in anything that they may attempt to do."
And that statement, C "My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my throat," was likewise a proclamation of those things which he was about to do according to the will of the Father. For the power of that mighty word, by which he was always rebuking the Pharisees and Scribes who disputed with him, and in short all the teachers of your race, remained suspended like an overflowing and powerful spring whose water was diverted when he himself kept silent and would no longer answer anyone before Pilate, as has been demonstrated in the memoirs of his apostles—so that also the fruit of that saying of Isaiah might be effective, where it is written: "The Lord gives me a tongue, that I may know when I ought to speak a word."
But his saying, "You are my God; do not depart from me," teaches at the same time that all have a duty to hope in God who created all things, and to seek salvation and help from Him alone, and not, after the manner of the rest of men, to think that they can obtain salvation because of D lineage, or wealth, or strength, or wisdom. This is the very thing which you yourselves have also always done, who at one time indeed...
made the calf, and always proved yourselves ungrateful, slayers of the just, and puffed up because of your lineage. For if the Son of God is seen, because He is the Son, to say that He cannot be saved either by being strong or by being wise, but [only] by being sinless—as Isaiah says, that He had not sinned even by a word (for He did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in His mouth)—and that He could not be saved without God, how do you, or others who expect to be saved without this hope, not consider that you are deceiving yourselves?
103. B *Pharisees are bulls; the roaring lion is Herod or the devil.* What is said next in the Psalm: "For tribulation is near, because there is no one to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They have opened their mouths against me, like a raging and roaring lion. As water I have been poured out and all my bones have been scattered," was a prophecy of the things which happened to Him in like manner. For on that night when those from your people—who were sent by the Pharisees and Scribes according to their authority in teaching—came upon Him from the Mount of Olives, they surrounded Him—those whom the Scripture calls "calves with horns" [and] prematurely destructive. But that [saying], "Fat bulls have beset me," foretold those very men who did the same things as the calves, when He was brought to your teachers; whom, indeed, the Scripture designates as bulls, because we know that bulls are the cause of the existence of the calves. As, therefore, bulls are the fathers of the calves, so your teachers were the cause for their children to go out to the Mount of Olives to seize Him and bring Him to them. And the saying, "Because there is no one to help," is also indicative of what happened. For not even one of all men offered help to Him as one who was innocent. And that [saying], "They opened their mouths against me, like a roaring lion," designates the one who was then King of the Jews, Herod himself, who was called such, being the successor of that Herod who, when Jesus was born, slew all the infants born in Bethlehem at that time, because he suspected that He was absolutely in that number, of whom he had heard from the Magi who came from Arabia. But he was ignorant of the counsel of Him who is stronger than all; just as he had ordained for Joseph and Mary
A that they should depart and take the child, and stay there until it was again revealed to them to return into their own country. B And they had gone thither and stayed until Herod, who had killed the children in Bethlehem, was dead, and Archelaus had succeeded him. And he also died before Christ came to the dispensation C which occurred by the will of the Father, and was to undergo crucifixion. But when Archelaus had succeeded Herod, and had received the power which had been allotted to him, to whom Pilate, in order to show him favor, sent the bound Jesus, God, foreknowing that this would happen, had said thus: "And they shall bring him as a gift to the Assyrian king." D Or He also called the devil a lion roaring against Him; whom Moses calls a serpent, but in Job and Zechariah he is called devil, and by Jesus he is called Satan, a name which indicates that it is a name composed from the action which he performed. For "Sata" in the language of the Jews and Syrians is the same as "desertor" and "apostata," and the name "Nas," from which in interpretation he is called a serpent, if you interpret the Hebrew word: from which two words one name, Satan, is made. For immediately as Jesus ascended from the river Jordan, where the voice was uttered unto Him: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," B it is written in the memoirs of the apostles that the devil came to Him and tempted Him, even to the point of saying to Him: "Worship me," and that Christ answered him: "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." For as he deceived Adam, he thought he could also plot something against Him. And that saying: "Like water I am poured out, and all my bones are scattered; my heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my belly," C was a prophecy of what happened to Him that night, when they came out against Him upon the Mount of Olives to apprehend Him. For in the memoirs, which I say were composed by His apostles and their followers, it is recorded that sweat, like drops of blood, flowed down from Him, while He was praying and saying: "If it be possible, let this cup pass," D as trembling in his
of His heart A being manifest, and likewise of His bones, His heart being like wax melting into His bowels; so that we might know that the Father willed that His own Son should truly suffer such things for our sake, and that we should not say that He, being the Son of God, was not sentient of those things which were inflicted upon Him and which befell Him. And that which says, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat," which I mentioned before, was a prediction of that silence B in which (at nothing [27] answering nothing) He, who put to shame all the unwise teachers among you, remained.
104. And that which says, "In the dust of death Thou hast brought me low: for many dogs have encompassed me, the assembly of the wicked have beset me. They pierced my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones. They themselves gazed and looked upon me. They parted my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots;" these words, as I have said, were a prediction of what kind of death the assembly of the wicked was about to condemn Him, whom He also calls dogs and huntsmen, indicating that they themselves, the huntsmen, who also gathered C together, were those who struggled to condemn Him. Which, as it is written in his apostles' memoirs, happened. And that after His crucifixion, those who crucified Him divided His garments among themselves, I have shown.
105. The things which follow in the Psalm: "But Thou, O Lord, do not remove Thy help from me: attend to my defense. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog [31]; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns;" were likewise, again, a teaching and a prediction of the things that were His, and of the things about to befall Him. For that He was the only-begotten to the Father of D all, having been born specifically from Him as Word and power, and afterward man...
born through the Virgin, as we learned from the memoirs, I have already demonstrated. And that having been crucified He died, he similarly foretold. For that [saying]: “Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns,” C similarly intimates the passion by which He was about to die, that is to say, to be crucified. For as to the phrase “the horns of the unicorns,” that it is the figure of the cross alone, I have already explained to you. And that by requesting his soul to be saved from the sword and the mouth of the lion and the hand of the dog, it was a petition that no one might have dominion over his soul—so that, when we come to the departure from life, we may ask the same things of God, who is able to avert every shameless and evil angel from taking hold of our soul. And that souls endure, I have demonstrated to you from the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the ventriloquist, as Saul asked. And it appears also that all D souls of such righteous men and prophets fell under the power of such authorities, such as the power that is confessed to have been in that ventriloquist in the very nature of the events. Whence also He teaches us, through His Son, to strive in every way—on whose account these things are seen to happen—and at the departure [from life] to pray that our souls may not fall under any such power. For indeed, handing over the spirit upon the cross, He said: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” as I also learned this from the memoirs. For [He also taught] that [we must] surpass the way of life of the Pharisees, urging on His disciples; if not, [they must] know that they will not be saved; and it is written in the memoirs that He said these things: “Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
106. And that He knew the Father would grant Him all things as He asked, and would raise Him from the dead, and exhorted all who fear God to praise God because He had shown mercy, and because through this mystery of Him who was crucified, [He had shown mercy] to every race of believing men; and that He stood in the midst of His brethren, the apostles...
B (who indeed, after He rose from the dead, and was persuaded by Him—that even before His passion He had told them that He must suffer these things, and that these things had been foretold by the prophets, repented that they had deserted Him when He was crucified), and while He walked with them, He praised God, as is also declared in the memoirs of the apostles to have happened, and revealed the things left out of the psalm. And these are the things: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him." And that He is said to have renamed one of the apostles Peter, and that this also is written as having occurred in his memoirs, and that He further renamed two other brothers, the sons of Zebedee, Boanerges, which is "sons of thunder," was a sign that He is the very same One by whom the surname of Jacob was given to him who was called Israel, and by whom the name Jesus was given to Auses; by which name also, the people who were left of those who came out of Egypt were led into the land promised to the patriarchs. And that He was to rise as a star C from the race of Abraham, Moses declared in these words: "There shall rise a star out of Jacob, and a leader out of Israel." And another Scripture says: "Behold a man; the East is his name." And since a star arose in the heavens at the time He was born, as is written in the memoirs of His apostles, the Magi from Arabia, recognizing this from the sign, came and worshipped Him.
107. The same dogma from the history of Jonah. — And that on the third day, after He was crucified, He was to rise, it is written in the same memoirs that the men of your race, when disputing with Him, said: "Show us a sign;" and that He answered them: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to them, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." And since these things were said by Him in a hidden manner, it was for the hearers to understand that, after He had been crucified, He would rise again on the third day. And He showed that your generation was more wicked and adulterous than the city of the Ninevites, who, when Jonah had preached to them after he had been cast forth on the third day from the belly of the D
A great fish—that after three [in other copies, forty] days they would all perish—proclaimed a fast for every living thing, men and beasts alike, with sackcloth and vehement outcry, and a true turning of their hearts away from iniquity; believing that God is merciful and philanthropic towards all who turn from their wickedness, so that even the king of that city and the nobles likewise, putting on sackcloth, remained in fasting and supplication, and succeeded in having their city spared. But even when Jonah was grieved that on the [in other copies, three] third day, as he had preached, the city was not destroyed, by the providence of God a gourd 44 sprang up from the ground for him, under which he sat and was shaded from the heat the gourd was a sudden growth, neither planted by Jonah nor watered by him, but suddenly springing up to provide him with shade, and then by 45 another command [God] dried it up. At this Jonah was vexed, and God reproved him for being unjustly disheartened because the city of the Ninevites had not been destroyed, saying: "You spared the gourd, for which you did not labor, nor did you nourish it, which came up in a night and perished in a night; and shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of men who do not know their right hand from their left, and many cattle?" B
108. And when all the men of your race knew that these things had been done by Jonah, and when Christ cried out among you that He would give you the sign of Jonah, urging you that, even after He had risen from the dead, you should repent of the evils you had committed and likewise, like the Ninevites, weep before God, so that both your nation and your city might not be captured and destroyed as it has been destroyed; and not only did you not repent when you learned that He had risen from the dead, but, as I said before, having chosen and sent out select men into every country, you proclaimed that a certain godless and lawless heresy had been raised up from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver—whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him from C the tomb by night, and D all over the world they sent men to accuse Christ.
from the sepulchre by night, from whence he was taken down A, having stolen him, they spread the report that he has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; further, you have laid to our charge those impious, detestable, and wicked deeds which you repeat against all who confess Christ to be both Teacher and Son of God, to every race of men—calling us atheists, lawless, and unholy. Furthermore, now that your city has been captured and your land laid waste, you do not repent, but you even dare to curse Him and all who believe in Him. Yet we do not hate you, nor those who have taken up such an opinion of us from you; but we pray that even now, having repented, you may all obtain mercy from the all-benign and wondrously merciful Father, the God of the universe.
109. B 109. But regarding the fact that the nations were to repent of the wickedness in which they lived while wandering, after they had learned the doctrine which the apostles preached from Jerusalem through them, I would have you bear with me while I recite a few words from the prophecy of Micah, one of the twelve: they are of this kind: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, prepared on the tops of the mountains; it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall set a river upon it, and many nations shall go, and they shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will show us His way, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall judge among many peoples, and shall rebuke strong C nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war anymore. And a man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all peoples will walk each in the name of their god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will gather her that is afflicted, and I will assemble her that is cast out, and her whom I have plagued; and I will make her that is afflicted a remnant, and her that is driven far off a strong nation. And the Lord shall reign D over them in Mount Zion from henceforth and even forever."
A I know, sirs, that your teachers confess that all the words of this passage were spoken concerning Christ. And I also know that they say He has not yet come; or, if they say He has come, they maintain that it is not known who He is, but that when He shall become manifest and glorious, then it will be known who He is. They say that then, [they claim,] the things mentioned in this passage will be fulfilled, as though no fruit of the words of the prophecy has yet appeared. How senseless are they, not understanding what has been proved through all the words: that two advents of His have been announced. One, in which He is proclaimed as one who suffers, is inglorious, dishonored, and crucified; and the second, in which He shall come from the heavens with glory, when also the man of apostasy, B who dares to speak lawless things against the Most High upon the earth, will venture to do lawless things against us Christians, who, having recognized the worship of God through the apostles of Jesus—the word which went forth from Jerusalem—have taken refuge in the God of Jacob and the God of Israel. And those of us who were filled with war, mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each of us throughout the whole earth changed our instruments of war—swords into ploughshares, and spears into farming implements—and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and the hope which is from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified; sitting each under his own vine, that is to say, each of us using only his lawful wife. For that the prophetic word says, "And his wife as a flourishing vine," C is clear to you. And that there is no one who terrifies or enslaves us who have believed in Jesus throughout all the earth is manifest. For that we do not depart from our confession when we are beheaded, and crucified, and cast to wild beasts, and [bound] with chains and fire and all other torments, is plain; but the more such things happen, the more others in greater numbers become faithful and pious through the name of Jesus. Just as if one should prune the fruit-bearing parts of a vine, it puts forth other branches, both flourishing and fruit-bearing, so it happens also with us. For the vine planted by God and the Savior Christ is His people. The remaining part of the prophecy will be fulfilled in His second advent. For that "afflicted" D portion, that is to say, [the part which is] from the world, as far as concerns you and all other men—
A indeed, each one of the Christians has been cast out, not only from their own possessions, but also from the whole world, granting life to no Christian. B Yet you say that this has happened to your own people. But if you have been cast out as a result of being defeated in war, you have suffered these things justly, as all the Scriptures testify. We, however, who have done nothing of the sort after knowing the truth of God, are testified to by God—along with the most righteous and only undefiled and sinless Christ—that we are being removed from the earth. 58 For Isaiah cries out: "Behold how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one understands." [111.] And that these two advents of this Christ were also predicted in the time of Moses, I have already demonstrated by the sign of the goats offered in the fast. And again, in those things which Moses and Jesus did, the same thing was symbolically proclaimed and spoken. For one of them, stretching out his hands, remained on the hill until evening, with his hands being supported; this shows no other type than that of the cross. The other, who was renamed by the name Jesus, led the battle, and Israel was victorious. It is also possible to understand, regarding both those holy men and prophets of God, that it was not possible for either of them to carry both of those mysteries alone—I mean, the type of the cross and the type of the invocation of the Name. For this power belongs to one only, and was, and shall be; at whose Name every authority trembles, C shuddering because they are about to be destroyed by Him. Our passible and crucified Christ, therefore, was by no means cursed by the law, but was manifesting only that He would save those who do not depart from the faith of Him. And those who were saved in Egypt, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were perishing, were liberated by the blood of the Passover, which was smeared on the doorposts on both sides and on the lintel. For Christ was the Passover, who was sacrificed later, as Isaiah also said: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter." And it is written that you arrested Him on the day of the Passover, and likewise crucified Him during the Passover. And as the blood of the Passover saved those in Egypt, so also will the blood of Christ deliver from death those who have believed. For God was about to be deceived, if this sign 62 were not marked on the doorposts of the faithful.
doors? I certainly would not say so, but rather that he was foretelling that the salvation would be for the human race through the blood of Christ. For the sign of the scarlet thread 63, which the spies sent to Jericho by Joshua the son of Nun gave to the harlot Rahab, telling her to tie it to the window through which she let them down so that they might escape their enemies, likewise signified the sign of the blood of Christ, by which those who were formerly harlots and unrighteous from among all the nations are saved, having received remission of sins, and sinning no more.
112. But you, when you interpret these things in a lowly manner, assign great weakness to God, if you hear these things so superficially and do not examine the power of what is said. For in this way Moses would also be judged as a transgressor of the law. He himself commanded 64 that there should be no likeness of anything, either of those things in heaven, or on earth, or in the sea; yet afterwards he himself made a bronze serpent and, having set it on a sign 65, he commanded those who had been bitten to look at it; and they were saved by looking at it. Shall the serpent, then, be thought to have saved the people at that time, which God from the beginning B cursed and destroyed by the great sword, as Isaiah cries? And shall we foolishly accept such things as your teachers say, and not as symbols? And shall we not refer the sign to the image of the crucified Jesus, since Moses also, through the stretching out of his hands, together with him who was named Jesus, secured victory for your people? For in this way we shall cease to be at a loss concerning the things which the lawgiver did; for he did not leave God and persuade the people to set their hope on a beast, through which transgression and disobedience had their beginning. And these things were done and said by the blessed prophet with great understanding and mystery; and there is nothing which anyone can justly blame in the things which were done or said by all the prophets C generally, if you have the knowledge that is in them 66. But if you act as your teachers 67 [do]—why are female camels not mentioned in this place, or what are the so-called female camels, or why are so many measures of fine flour and so many measures of oil in the offerings explained to you, and these in a lowly and... D
A base manner, while they never dare to speak of or explain the great things worthy of inquiry; or even when we explain them, they warn you not to listen at all, nor to enter into any communion of discourse—will they not justly hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: « Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. » Unless, therefore, you despise the doctrine of those who exalt themselves and wish to be called Rabbi, Rabbi, and approach the prophetic writings with such firmness of mind and intelligence as to undergo the same things from your own people that the prophets themselves suffered, you cannot possibly derive any benefit at all from the prophetic oracles.
113. Joshua the figure of Christ.
113. B Now what I say is of this kind. He who was sent with Caleb as a spy into the land of Canaan, whom, as I have often said, while he was called Auses, Moses named Jesus. You do not ask for what reason he did this; you do not ponder it; you do not inquire into it with diligence. Quite evidently Christ remains hidden from you, and you neither understand while reading, nor, even now, when you hear that Jesus is our Christ, do you reflect C that this name was not given to that man in vain or at random. But why it is that one alpha was added to the first name of Abraham, you treat of theologically, and why one rho was added to the name of Sara, you likewise dispute with great display. Why, however, the paternal name of Auses the son of Nave was wholly changed into the surname of Jesus—do you not similarly inquire? But because not only was his name changed, but he also became the successor of Moses, and alone D of those of the same age who departed from Egypt brought the surviving people into the holy land, and just as he brought the people into the holy land, and not Moses; and as he divided it by lot to those who had entered with him, so also will Jesus the Christ restore the dispersion of the people, and will divide the good land to each; not, however, in the same way. For that one gave them a temporary inheritance, inasmuch as he was neither the Christ who is God, nor the Son of God. But this one, after the holy resurrection, will give us the eternal possession. He made the sun stand still, having been previously renamed with the name Jesus, and having received strength from his Spirit. For that Jesus him-- A self being the one who appeared and spoke to Moses and to Abraham and to the other patriarchs, simply put, and who served the will of the Father, I have demonstrated; he who also came to be born as a man through the Virgin Mary, and *he is always*, I shall say. For this is he from whom 74 both the heaven and the earth exist, and through whom the Father is about to renew them; this is he who is about to shine as an eternal light in Jerusalem; this is he who is king of Salem according to the order of Melchizedek, and who exists as an eternal priest of the Most High. That man (Joshua) is said to have circumcised the people a second time 75 with knives of flint (which was a proclamation of this circumcision with which Jesus Christ himself circumcises us from the stones and from other idols), and to have made heaps of those from uncircumcision—that is, from the error of the world—who in every place were circumcised with knives of flint by the words of Jesus our Lord. For that Christ is proclaimed in the parables as a stone and a rock by the prophets has been demonstrated by me. Therefore, we shall understand his words to be the knives of flint, by which so many of those from uncircumcision who were wandering have been circumcised in the circumcision of the heart, which God, through Jesus, urged even those who had the circumcision that took its beginning from Abraham to receive from that time forward; and he said that those who entered into that holy land received a second circumcision 76 with knives of flint by Jesus.
114. For there are times when the Holy Spirit 77 was doing something, of which it was a type of what was about to happen B or was being done; and there are times when he also uttered words concerning things that were about to come to pass, uttering them as if they were happening then or had already happened.
Certain rules for discerning what is said about Christ.
. The circumcision of the Jews is far different from that which the Christians have received. For sometimes the Holy Spirit caused it to come to pass, clearly and openly, that something was an image of the future; sometimes, indeed, he also uttered words concerning things about to happen, speaking of them as if they were then taking place or had already taken place. This art of speaking, I say, is the one of which I spoke—[that art] which God cursed, and that he is always [the same], I shall say. From the time he suffered, another heresy again springs up, called that of the Phrygians, saying that [there is] an anathema from Christ, from whom, from whom also are the heaven and the earth, the one who made the heaven and the earth, from whom the heaven and the earth shall pass away. C To make heaps, having made, D *cheirantos* (of the one handling) *cheirontos* (of the one being handled). [alt-version omitted]And when He speaks of future things, He pronounces them as if they were taking place even then, or had already happened. Unless those who read this view it with such an art, they will be unable to follow the prophetic words as they ought. By way of example, I shall put forth some prophetic sayings so that you may follow what is being said. A When He says through Isaiah, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer,” He speaks as if the passion had already occurred. And when He says again, “I have spread out my hands unto a people disobedient and gainsaying,” and when He says, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” the words signify the announcement of things as if they had already come to pass. For I have already demonstrated that in metaphor Scripture often calls Christ a stone, and in allegory, Jacob and Israel. And again, when it says, “I shall behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers,” if I do not understand the operation of His Word, I shall understand it foolishly, as it pleases your teachers, who think that the Father of all and the unbegotten God possesses hands and feet and fingers and B a soul, like a composite living being; and who for this reason teach that the Father Himself appeared to Abraham and to Jacob. Blessed, therefore, are we who have been circumcised with stone knives for the second circumcision. For your first circumcision was and is performed with iron; for you remain hard-hearted. But our circumcision, which is the second in number, having been manifested after yours, by sharp stones—that is, by the words of the apostles of that chief corner-stone, which was cut without hands—circumcises us from idolatry and from every wickedness entirely. Those whose hearts are thus circumcised from wickedness, so that they even rejoice as they die for the sake of the name of that fair Rock, which also pours forth living water into the hearts of those who through Him love C the Father of all, and gives to drink to those who thirst for the water of life. But as I say these things, you do not understand. For you understand neither the things which the prophets predicted that Christ would do, nor do you believe us when we lead you to the Scriptures. For Jeremiah thus cries out: “Woe unto you, because ye have forsaken the living fountain, and have dug for yourselves broken cisterns, which cannot hold water. Will it be a wilderness where mount Sion is? Because I have given Jerusalem a bill of divorce before you.”
A 115. But you ought to believe Zechariah, who shows the mystery of Christ in a parable and announces it in a hidden manner. These are his words: “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion; for behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord; and many nations shall be added to the Lord in that day. And they shall be for a people to me, and I will dwell in the midst of you; and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. And the Lord shall inherit Judah, and his portion in the holy land, and he shall choose Jerusalem again.” Let all flesh fear before the face of the Lord, for he has arisen from his holy clouds. “And he showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the face of an angel; and the devil stood at his right hand, to resist him. And the Lord said to the devil, The Lord rebuke you, who chooses Jerusalem. Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” B While Trypho was preparing to answer and contradict me, I said, “First wait and hear what I say; for I am not about to put forward the explanation which you suspect—namely, that there was no priest named Jesus in the land of Babylon, where your people were captive. Even if I were doing that, I have proved that there was a Jesus, a priest, among your people, but that it was not he whom the prophet saw in his revelation; just as the prophet did not see either the devil or the angel of the Lord with his own eyes while he was in a normal state, but in an ecstasy, a revelation having been made to him. But now I say that just as Scripture said that certain virtues and actions, which proclaimed the things that were to be done by our Lord, were performed by the son of Nave C through the name of Jesus; so also did it signify the [actions] under that Jesus who was priest in Babylon among your people— D
A a revelation to your people, I now proceed to demonstrate that the things which were to be performed by our priest and God and Christ, the Son of the Father of all, were indeed a proclamation. But I was wondering, I said, why a little while ago you remained silent when I was speaking, or how you did not challenge me when I said that the son of Nave was the only one of those who came out of Egypt—besides his contemporaries—who entered the holy land, along with those who were recorded as being younger than that generation. For you rush and fly B towards ulcers like flies. For even if someone says ten thousand things well, but a tiny little part in them is not pleasing to you, or is not understood, or is not stated with precision, you care nothing for the many good things, but you seize upon the small word, and you strive to construe it as an impiety and a wickedness, in order that you may, by the same 89 judgment, be judged by God, and much more be held to account for your great rash acts, or for your wicked deeds, or for the base interpretations which you twist and explain. 90 For with the judgment you judge, it is just that you should be judged.
116. But that I may render to you the account concerning the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, 91 I take up the discourse again, and I say that this revelation also has happened to us who believe in this Christ as the high priest, the one who was crucified; we who were living in fornications and simply in every filthy C practice, but through the grace given by our Jesus according to the will of his Father, we have put off all those filthy evils with which we were clothed; against which the devil always stands, opposing us, and wishing to draw everyone to himself; but the angel of God—that is, the power of God which was sent to us through Jesus Christ—rebukes him, and he departs from us. And just as we have been snatched from the fire, being cleansed from our former sins, so too are we to be 92 delivered from the affliction and the burning which both the devil and all his servants kindle against us; D and out of these, Jesus the Son of God has promised again to snatch us, and to clothe us with the prepared garments, if we perform his commandments, and he has promised that he will provide an eternal kingdom. For in the same manner as that Jesus who is called priest by the prophet was seen wearing filthy garments because it was said that he had taken a harlot 94 as his wife, and was called a brand plucked from the fire, because the remission of
A sins had been received, the devil who stood against him having been rebuked. So we, who through the name of Jesus have believed as one man in God the Creator of all, through the name of His first-begotten Son, have been stripped of the filthy garments, that is, of our sins, by the word of His calling, and have been set on fire by His word, and are the true high-priestly race of God, as even God Himself bears witness, saying that in every place among the Gentiles, sacrifices pleasing and pure are offered to Him. But God does not receive sacrifices from anyone, except through His priests.
117. B Accordingly, God, anticipating the sacrifices which Jesus Christ commanded to be offered, that is, at the Eucharist of the bread and the cup, and which are offered by Christians in every place of the earth, bears witness that they are pleasing to Him. But those offered by you and through those priests of yours, He rejects, saying: "And I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands; because from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name has been glorified among the Gentiles," says He, "but you profane it." And even now, striving in argument, you say that God does not accept the sacrifices of those who were then called Israelites, who were dwelling in Jerusalem; but that He said He accepts the prayers of those of that race who were then in the dispersion, and calls their prayers sacrifices. That, indeed, both prayers and thanksgiving, when performed by the worthy, are the only perfect and pleasing sacrifices to God, I also affirm. For these alone have Christians received to do, and even C in remembrance of their food, both dry and liquid, in which also is commemorated the passion which the Son of God suffered for them, D
A of whom the name, once profaned throughout the whole world and pelted with blasphemies, the chief priests of your people and your teachers have caused. But God will show these very filthy garments, which have been imposed by you upon all who have become Christians through the name of Jesus, to be removed from us, when He shall raise up all men, and shall appoint some to be incorruptible, immortal, and free from pain in an eternal and indissoluble kingdom, but shall send others away to the eternal punishment of fire.
And that you yourselves and your teachers deceive yourselves, interpreting the Scripture as though it were speaking of those of your own race who are in the diaspora, and as though it were saying that their prayers and sacrifices which are made in every place are pure and acceptable, recognize that you are lying and are trying to deceive yourselves in every way. For first of all, even now your race is not spread from the rising of the sun to its setting, but there are nations in which not one of your race has yet dwelt. B For there is no race of men at all, whether of barbarians or of Greeks, or even of those named by any name whatsoever, whether they be called those who live in wagons C or nomads without fixed houses, or those who dwell in tents and live off their herds, in which prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Maker of all things through the name of the crucified Jesus.
CONCERNING THE SACRIFICE OF THE CHRISTIANS
D Everyone perceives quite easily the unbloody remembrance of the bloody passion. But as regards the very species of bread and wine, Justin appears to praise and commend the sacrifice of the Christians for a certain extraordinary simplicity of them. For Eustathius observes in *Iliad* A, p. 138 (Roman edition), that the ancients, before the use of victims, offered only fine flour and libations, that they might testify their gratitude as with first-fruits of the whole of human sustenance, which is, to be sure, both dry and liquid. In agreement with the opinion of Justin is this testimony of Irenaeus: "And giving counsel to his disciples to offer the first-fruits of His creatures to God—not because He is in need, but that they might be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful—He took that which is created, the bread, and gave thanks, saying: 'This is my body.' And the cup likewise, which is that which is created according to us, He confessed to be His own blood, and taught the new oblation of the New Testament, which the Church, receiving from the apostles, offers to God in the whole world, to Him who provides us with sustenance, the first-fruits of His own gifts in the New Testament" (Book IV, chap. 47, n. 5). So also Origen (Book VIII, *Against Celsus*, p. 399): "And Celsus indeed, as one who knows not God, gives thanks to demons; but we, who give thanks to the Creator of all, even eat those breads which have been offered with thanksgiving and prayer over these gifts, and they have become, by means of the prayer, a certain holy body, and one which sanctifies those who use it with a sound purpose." The words of our Liturgy also bring light to Justin: "Through whom, O Lord, You always create all these good things," etc. (See Joan. Bona, *Liturg.* II, 14).
A nor any of the barbarians, by whatever name they may be called, whether they dwell in wagons or are nomads without houses, or are Scenitae who live in tents feeding cattle—there is no such race in which prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of all things in the name of the crucified Jesus. Furthermore, at the time when the prophet Malachi was saying these things, your dispersion into all those parts of the earth where you now are had not yet occurred, as is also proven by the Scriptures.
118. Repent, therefore, before the great day of judgment comes, in which all those chosen from your tribes B who have pierced this Christ will lament, as I have proven from the Scriptures was foretold. And I have explained what was previously said, that "The Lord has sworn according to the order of Melchizedek," and that the prophecy of Isaiah saying, "His burial is taken away from the midst," was spoken concerning the Christ who was to be buried and to rise again; and I have demonstrated to many that this very Christ is the judge of all the living and the dead. Likewise, when Nathan was speaking to David about Him, he added this: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son, and my mercy I will not take away from him, as I did from those who were before him; and I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom forever." Nor does Ezekiel mention any other as the leader in the house than this one. For he is the pre-eminent priest and eternal king, Christ, as the Son of God. C Do not think that Isaiah or the other prophets, in speaking of His second coming, refer to sacrifices of blood or libations being offered upon the altar, but rather to true and spiritual praises and thanksgivings. Nor is it in vain that we have believed in Him, nor have we been deceived by those who so taught; but this has happened by the admirable providence of God, so that we, through the calling of the new and eternal Covenant—that is, Christ—might be found wiser and more God-fearing than you, who are thought to be, but are not in reality, lovers of God or wise. Wondering at this, Isaiah said: "Kings shall shut their mouths; for those to whom it was not announced regarding them shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand. Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" And saying these things, Trypho, I said, D as much as is possible for those who have arrived with you today,
I attempt to state these things, yet briefly and concisely.
And he said: You do well, and even if you say the same things again at greater length, understand that I and those who are present are delighted to hear them.
119. A I also said: Do you think, O men, that we could have understood these things in the Scriptures, if we had not received grace by the will of him who willed these things, so that we might understand? B Thus, what was said by Moses may also come to pass: "They have provoked me with strange gods, they have angered me with their abominations. They sacrificed to demons which they did not know; new and recent ones have come, which their fathers did not know. You have forsaken the God who begat you, and have forgotten the God who fostered you." And the Lord saw, and was jealous, and was provoked to anger because of the wrath of his sons and daughters; and he said: "I will hide my face from them, and I will show what shall befall them in the last days; for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faith. They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with that which is not a nation; with a foolish nation I will anger them. For a fire is kindled out of my wrath, and it shall burn even to the underworld. It shall devour the earth and its produce, it shall burn to the foundations of the mountains: I will heap evils upon them." C And after that righteous one was slain, we, another people, have flourished, and we have sprouted like new and blooming ears of grain, as the prophets said: "And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, for a people, and they shall dwell in the midst of all the earth." And we are not only a people, but we are a holy people, as we have already demonstrated. "And they shall call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord." Therefore, we are not a despicable people, nor a barbarian tribe, nor such as the nations of the Carians D or the Phrygians; but God has also chosen us, and he became manifest to those who did not inquire for him. "Behold, I am God," he says, "to a nation that did not call upon my name." For this is that nation which God formerly promised to Abraham, and pledged that he would make him a father of many nations, not saying that he would be a father of Arabs, or Egyptians, or Idumaeans; for Ishmael also became the father of a great nation, as did Esau, and there exists even now a great multitude of Ammonites. Noah was the father of Abraham himself, and indeed of the whole human race; and others were progenitors of others.
A But what more does Christ grant here to Abraham? Because He called him by a voice similar to the calling by which He called us all through that voice; and we have already emerged from that manner of life in which we were living wickedly, according to the common custom of the other inhabitants of the earth. And together with Abraham we shall inherit the holy land, receiving the inheritance for an everlasting age, being children of Abraham on account of our similar faith. For in the same way that he believed the voice of God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, in the same way we also, having believed the voice of God—that which was spoken through the apostles of Christ, and also that which was preached to us through the prophets—have renounced all things that are in the world, down to the point of death. A nation, then, of similar faith, and God-fearing, and righteous, and gladdening the Father, He promises to him; but not to you, in whom there is no faith.
B 120. Observe, however, how He promises the same things also to Isaac and to Jacob. For so He says to Isaac: "And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And to Jacob: "And all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in you, and in your seed." He no longer says this to Esau, nor to Reuben, nor to any other, but to those from whom Christ was to be born according to the dispensation through the Virgin Mary. If you were to consider also the blessing of Judah, you would see what I am saying. For the seed from Jacob is divided, and descends through Judah, and Phares, and Jesse, and David. Now these were signs that some of your race would be found to be children of Abraham and would be found in the portion of Christ; but others, while being children of Abraham, would be as the sand C that is on the seashore, which is barren and fruitless, existing in great and numberless quantity, yet producing no fruit at all, but only drinking the water of the sea. And this is exactly what the great multitude among your race is proven to be, as they drink in the teachings of bitterness and godlessness, but spit out the word of God. He says, therefore, also in the case of Judah: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until those things which are stored up for him come; and he himself shall be the expectation of the nations." And it is evident that this was not spoken of Judah, but of Christ. For we do not all expect Judah from among all the nations, but Jesus, who also led your fathers out of Egypt. For until the coming of Christ, the prophecy proclaimed: "Until he shall come for whom it is laid up, and he shall be the expectation of the nations."
D He has therefore come, as we have demonstrated to many, and He will come again upon the clouds, Jesus, whose name you profane, and you labor to have it profaned in the whole world. I could indeed contend against you concerning the voice of these words which you interpret, asserting that it is said: "Until those things which are stored up for him come." Nor did the Seventy interpret it in such a way, but: "Until he shall come for whom it is laid up." But that these things were said of Christ is evident from what follows...
A for they have it thus: "And he shall be the expectation of the Gentiles." I do not come to dispute with you about this little word, just as I did not strive to produce a demonstration concerning Christ from those Scriptures which are not acknowledged by you—which I also recounted—from the words of the prophet Jeremiah, and Ezra, and David, but from those which are acknowledged by you even until now. If your teachers had understood these, know that they would have made them obscure, just as they have also made obscure those things concerning the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed with a wooden saw; B a mystery, that one, of Christ who was to cleave your race in two, and who was to deem the worthy, together with the holy patriarchs and prophets, worthy of the eternal kingdom, but to send those who are under the condemnation of the unquenchable fire, together with like-minded disobedient and intransigent people from among all nations, as he has already declared. "For they shall come," he said, "from the west and from the east, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness" (Matt. viii, 11). And I said these things, because I am so affected in my mind that I have said absolutely nothing in which C I care for anything other than to speak the truth, intending to revere no one, even if I must instantly be hewn apart by you. For not even regarding any of my own race—I speak of the Samaritans—did I care when, in a writing presented to the Caesar, I appealed to him; I said that they were deceived, as those who put faith in Simon, a magician of their own race, whom they say is a god above every principality and power and might. 121. And when they remained silent, I added: "Through David, concerning this Christ, it is said..."
in Scripture no longer in 'his seed' shall the nations be blessed, but in him. And it is thus there: 'His name shall rise up forever, above the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in him.' If, then, all the nations are blessed in Christ, and we from all the nations believe in him, and he himself is the Christ, then we are those who have been blessed through him. For God indeed previously gave the sun to be worshipped, as it is written, and it is not possible to see anyone who has ever endured to die for his faith in the sun; but for the name of Jesus, from every race of mankind, one may see those who have endured, or who are enduring, to suffer everything so as not to deny him. For the word of his truth and wisdom is more piercing and much brighter than the powers of the sun, and it penetrates into the depths of the heart and mind. Hence also the Word said: 'His name shall rise up above the sun.' And again, 'The East is his name,' says Zacharias, and speaking about the same one, he said: 'They shall wail, tribe by tribe.' B If, then, in his first advent, which was inglorious and uncomely and despised, he so shone and prevailed that in no nation is he unknown, and from every sort of life men have repented of their old evil manner of living, so that even the demons are subject to his name, and all principalities and kingdoms fear his name more than all those who have died; and if in his glorious advent he will in every way destroy all those who have hated him and those who have unjustly apostatized from him, but will give rest to his own, bestowing upon them all the things they expectant — has it not been given to us both to hear and to understand and to be saved through this Christ, and to know all the things revealed by the Father? For this reason he said to him: 'It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, and to turn back the dispersals of Israel. I have set you as a light to the nations, that you may be for their salvation until the last part of the earth.' C"
[You] think that these things were said of the *Geiorem* and your proselytes; but in truth they were said of us, who have been illuminated through Jesus. For otherwise Christ would have borne witness to them as well; but as it is, you become—as He Himself said—twice as much children of hell. A Therefore, the words of the prophets do not pertain to them, but to us, of whom Scripture says: "I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, and they shall walk in paths that they have not known." And "I am a witness," says the Lord God, "and my servant whom I have chosen." To whom, then, does Christ bear witness? Clearly, to those who have believed. But the proselytes not only do not believe, but they surpass you twofold in vomiting out blasphemies against His name; and they wish to kill and torture us who believe in Him; for in all things they hasten to be made like you. And again, elsewhere, He cries out: "I, the Lord, have called you in justice, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you, and I will set you for a testament of the nation, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the prisoners out of their bonds." Since these things, sirs, were also said concerning Christ and the illuminated Gentiles, will you say again: "He says these things to the law and the proselytes"?
Here, some of those who had arrived on the second day cried out as if in a theater: "What? Does He not speak these things to the law, and to those who are illuminated by it?" These are the proselytes.
"By no means," I said, looking at Trypho; "for if the law were able to illuminate the Gentiles and those who have the law, what need would there be for a New Testament? But because God announced that He would send a New Testament and an eternal law and commandment, we do not understand [this to refer to] that old law and its proselytes, but to Christ and His proselytes—namely, us from among the Gentiles, whom He has illuminated—just as He says somewhere: "Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you, and I gave you for a testament of the nations, to establish the earth, and to possess the inheritances of the desolate [places]." D What, then, is the inheritance of Christ? Is it not the nations? What is the testament of God? Is it not Christ? As He also says elsewhere: "You are my Son, this day have I begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession."
123. Ridiculous interpretations of the Jews. Christians the true Israel. — How, therefore, do you think that these things were said—just as [you think those were said]—concerning Christ and the nations?
A For proselytes do not need the covenant, if one and the same law has been set for all who are circumcised, of whom Scripture speaks thus: "And the sojourner shall also be added to them, and he shall be added to the house of Jacob." And that a proselyte B who is circumcised has passed into the people just as a native, while we, though accounted worthy to be called a people, are yet in the same way a nation because we remain uncircumcised. Moreover, it is ridiculous for you to suppose that the eyes of those proselytes have been opened, but yours not, and that you think yourselves to be hearing, while they are blind and deaf, but they are enlightened. And it will turn out to be even more ridiculous for you if you claim that the law was given to the nations, while you yourselves do not even know that law. For you would have feared the wrath of God, and as lawless sons and wanderers you would not be, being put to shame whenever you heard Him say: "Children in whom there is no faith. And who is blind, but My children? And deaf, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God have been blinded. You have seen often, and did not observe; your ears were opened, and you did not hear." C Is this a fine praise from God, and a testimony of God fitting for servants? Are you not ashamed to hear these things often, and do you not tremble when God threatens, but rather you are a foolish and hard-hearted people. "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to take away this people," says the Lord, "and I will take them away, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent." With good reason; for you are not wise, nor prudent, but sharp and crafty; wise to do evil only; but to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant of the Lord, or to find the eternal paths, you are powerless. "Therefore I will raise up," He says, "to Israel and to Judah the seed of men and the seed of cattle." And through Isaiah concerning another Israel He says thus: D "In that day there shall be a third Israel in the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land which the Lord of Sabaoth blessed, saying: Blessed shall be My people who are in Egypt, and those in Assyria, and My inheritance
Israel. A Since therefore God blesses this people and calls them Israel, and proclaims them to be His inheritance, how is it that you do not repent, both for deceiving yourselves that you alone are Israel, and for cursing the people whom God has blessed? For indeed, since He spoke to Jerusalem and the regions around it, He added again: "And I will generate over you men, My people Israel; and they shall possess you by inheritance, and you shall be to them for a possession; and it shall not be added for you any more to be bereaved of them."
What then? says Trypho; are you Israel, and is He speaking these things about you?
If, I said to him, I had not already discoursed concerning these things, and at some length, I would doubt whether you were asking this because you did not understand; but since we have already concluded this question both with demonstration and with assent, I do not believe that you are unaware of what has been said, or that you are once again indulging in a spirit of contention, but rather that you are challenging me to demonstrate the same things again for these people as well. And as he gave his assent with a nod of his eyes, I said: Again, in Isaiah, if you hear with ears that hear, God B speaking in a parable about Christ calls Him Jacob and Israel. Thus He says: "Jacob My servant, I will uphold him; Israel My elect, I will put My spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not strive, nor cry out, nor shall anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench; but he shall bring forth judgment in truth; he shall not falter nor be broken, until he establishes judgment in the earth. And in His name shall the nations hope." As therefore from that one Jacob who was also surnamed Israel, your whole race was called Jacob and Israel, so also we, from Christ who begat us unto God—as Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David—are called and truly are children of God, we who keep the commandments of Christ.
124. Christians the children of God. — And when I saw them perturbed because I had said that we are also children of God, anticipating their question, I said: Hear, O men, how the Holy Spirit says concerning this people, that they are all sons of the Highest, and C that in their assembly this very Christ will be present, to judge every race of men. These words were spoken by David—as you indeed interpret them—thus: "God stood in the congregation of the gods, and in the midst He judges the gods. How long do you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of sinners? Judge the
and the ward, and do justice to the humble and the poor. Deliver the poor and needy, and rescue them from the hand of the sinner. They have not known nor understood; they walk in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit among all the nations. B In the Septuaginta (35) version, however, it is stated: "Behold, you die like men, and you fall like one of the princes"; that it might declare the disobedience of men—of Adam, I say, and of Eve—and the fall of one of the princes, that is, of him who is called that serpent, who fell with a great fall because he deceived Eve (36). But since I do not bring forward these words now for that purpose, but to demonstrate to you that the Holy Spirit rebukes men—who were made like God, exempt from suffering and death if they would keep His commandments, and deemed worthy by Him to be called His sons—because they, by likening themselves to Adam and Eve, bring death upon themselves; let the interpretation of the Psalm be as you wish, it is still proven that they were deemed worthy to become gods and all to become sons of the Most High, and that they are about to be judged and condemned of themselves, just as Adam and Eve were. And that He also calls Christ God has been demonstrated in many places.
125. C I desired, I say, to learn from you, O men, what the power of the name Israel is. And as they remained silent, I added: I will tell you what I know, for I consider it neither right that I should not speak what I know, nor, if I suspect that you yourselves know it, that I should, through envy or through a voluntary ignorance of any desire to learn, be forever distracted with care. Rather, I wish to speak everything simply and without guile, as my Lord said: "The sower went out to sow his seed; and some fell by the way, and some into thorns, and some upon stony ground, and some upon good ground." In the hope, therefore, that there is somewhere good ground, I must speak; since my Lord, as strong and mighty, will come and require His own from all, and will not condemn His steward, if He knows that he, recognizing that his Lord is mighty and will come to require His own, has given what he received to every table, and not buried it for any reason whatsoever. And so the name Israel signifies this, a man who overcomes power. For the "Isra" (39) is man; the D
"El" is power. This was predicted also through the mystery of the struggle which Jacob waged against the One who appeared, B who was, on one hand, ministering to the will of the Father, and, on the other, is God, in that He is the first-begotten Son of all creatures; so too it was prophesied that Christ, when He became man, would act. For when, as I said, He became man, the devil approached Him—that is, that power which is also called the serpent and Satan—tempting Him and struggling to overthrow Him by demanding that He worship him. But He destroyed and cast him down, proving that he is wicked, since, contrary to Scripture, he demanded to be worshipped as God, having become an apostate from the intent of God. For He answered him: "It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." And the devil, being defeated and exposed, then withdrew. But because our Christ was also to be "numbed"—that is, to be in toil and in the perception of the suffering—when He was about to be crucified, He also provided a symbolic prediction of this by touching the thigh of Jacob and making it numb. Now the name Israel was His from of old, which He bestowed, blessing the blessed Jacob with His own name, proclaiming also through this that all who flee to the Father through Him are the blessed Israel. But you, understanding none of these things, nor preparing to understand, because you are children of Jacob according to the fleshly seed, expect to be saved under any circumstances. But that you are leading yourselves into error in these matters as well, has been demonstrated by me in many things.
126. Who, then, is this who is called "Angel of great counsel," and sometimes a "man" through Ezekiel, and as the "Son of man" through Daniel, and a "child" through Isaiah, and "Christ," and "God to be worshipped," and "David" (42), and C D [index: entries preserved]
"Christ" and "Stone" by many, and "Wisdom" by Solomon, and "Joseph" and "Judas" and "Star" by Moses, and "Dayspring" by Zechariah, and again through Isaiah as one who suffers, and "Jacob" and "Israel," and "Rod" and "Flower" and "Chief cornerstone," and he is called "Son of God." If you had understood this, Trypho, I said, you would not have blasphemed against him who has already come, who was born, and suffered, and ascended into heaven—who shall also come again, and then your twelve tribes shall lament. For if you had understood the things said by the prophets, you would not have denied that he is God, the Son of the only, unbegotten, and ineffable God.
For it has been said somewhere also through Moses in Exodus in this manner: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord, and I was seen by Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, as their B God, and my name I did not declare unto them, and I established my covenant with them." And thus again He says: "And with Jacob a man wrestled; and he says he is God." For, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul was preserved," he says that Jacob said. And that he even described the place where he wrestled with him, and was seen, and blessed him, and called it the "Face of God," he recorded.
And similarly, Moses says that God appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, while he was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. Then, after saying these things, he adds: "And lifting up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men stood above him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them." And a little later, one of them promises a son to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh, saying: Shall I C indeed bear? I have grown old. Is anything impossible with God? At this time I will return at the hour, and Sarah shall have a son. And they departed from Abraham." And thus again concerning them he says: "And the men rising up from thence, looked toward the face of Sodom." Then again toward Abraham, he who is, and who was, as he says: "I will not hide from my servant Abraham what I am about to do."
And the subsequent things narrated from the books of Moses, and explained by me in turn, I said, by which it is demonstrated that he who appeared to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to the other patriarchs, was appointed under the Father and Lord, and served His will, D and who was...
also called God in the Scriptures. And I would add this, although I did not mention it before: So also when the people lusted to eat flesh, and Moses did not believe the one who was called an Angel there, who promised that God would give them enough to eat—that he who is both God and was sent as an Angel by the Father is the one who is shown to have said and done these things. For thus the Scripture leads on, saying: "And the Lord said to Moses: Shall the hand of the Lord not be sufficient? Now you shall know whether my word will overtake you or not." And again in other words it says: "And the Lord said to me: You shall not pass over this Jordan; the Lord your God who goes before your face, He himself will exterminate the nations."
127. B These Scripture passages do not refer to the Father, but to the Word. There are also other statements of the lawgiver and the prophets of this kind; and it seems sufficient to me to have said that when God says to me: "God went up from Abraham," or "The Lord spoke to Moses," and "The Lord went down to see the tower which the sons of men built," or when "God shut the ark of Noah from without," do not suppose that the unbegotten God himself has come down or gone up from any place. For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither comes to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor stands up, but remains in his own place, wherever that may be, seeing sharply and hearing sharply—not with eyes or ears, but with an ineffable power—and he oversees all things and knows all things, and none of us escapes his notice; nor is he moved, C as he is uncontainable by place and the whole world, seeing that he was even before the world was made. How then could this one speak to anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear in the smallest part of the earth, when even the glory that is from him...? D [alt-version omitted]
which was sent to the people, they were not able to behold on Sinai, and Moses himself was not able to enter the tabernacle which he had made, until it was filled with the glory of God? Nor, indeed, could the priest endure to stand before the temple when Solomon brought the ark into the house in Jerusalem, which Solomon himself had built. Neither Abraham, therefore, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all, and of Christ himself B, but [rather] that one who according to His will is both God, as being His Son, and angel, in that he serves His counsel; whom He also willed to be born as a man through the Virgin; who also once became fire in the conversation with Moses from the bush. For if we do not understand the Scriptures in this way, it will follow that the Father and Lord of all was not then in the heavens, when it was said through Moses: «And the Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven»; C or again, when it is said through David thus: «Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall enter in»; and again when he says: «The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.»
128. And that Christ, being Lord and God of God the Son, and appearing by power first as a man, and an angel, and in the glory of fire, as he appeared in the bush and in the judgment that was brought upon Sodom, has been demonstrated in many of the things said. But I was again recounting all that I had written before from Exodus, both concerning the vision in the bush, and the invocation of the name of Jesus, and I was saying: And do not think, O you men, that I am being redundant in saying these things many times; but because I know that some wish to claim these things, and D that he was for some time away from heaven, as Justin says a little later, if these places of Scripture were referred to him: «Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand,» and other things of the sort which are said about the Son, they are easily reconciled with the divine nature, because the Son is sent from the Father and, taking into account his humanity, was for some time away from heaven. But if applied to the Father, no longer having the same reason for explaining the matter, they would injure the divine essence. This reflects the whole method of Justin's arguing, such that he forces the Jews to confess that the Son was begotten of the Father, like light from light, not to mention that he attributed to him the divine nature. The Jews, as Justin reproaches them in number 114, imagined God as a certain composite being, and for that reason they wanted him to have appeared. What wonder is it, then, if Justin calls them to more sublime things, and contends that the Son was-seen in various forms, but the Father in no way in His own proper nature?
A I know there are also those who wish to take these things and say that that power, which appeared to Moses or to Abraham or to Jacob from the Father of all things, is called an angel when it comes to men, because through it the commands of the Father are announced to men; and "glory," because it appears at times in a manifestation that cannot be sustained; and at times a "man" and a human being, because it appears shaped in such forms as the Father wills; and finally they call it the Word, because it brings to men the messages from the Father. But they [the heretics] maintain that this power is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, in the same way that they say the light of the sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the sun in heaven; and when it sets, the light is taken away along with it. Thus, they say, when the Father wills, He causes that power of His to go forth, and when He wills, He again withdraws it into Himself. In this way, they also teach that angels are brought into being by Him. But it has been demonstrated that angels truly exist and remain forever, and do not dissolve back into that from which they originated; and that this power, which the prophetic word also calls God, has B likewise been shown by many arguments to be a power, and is called an angel, not only counted by name as the light of the sun is, but exists as something else in number. I have also discussed this matter briefly in the preceding pages, saying that this power has been begotten from the Father by His power and will, but not by abscission, as if the substance of the Father were divided, just as all other things which are divided and cut are not the same as they were before they were cut. For the sake of example, I took the fires that are kindled from another fire, which we see can have many fires kindled from them without the original fire being diminished, but while it remains the same. C [alt-version omitted] D
A And now, in order that I may repeat the testimonies regarding this demonstration. When the prophetic word says: "The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Gen. XIX, 24), it indicates that there are two in number: one upon the earth, who, as He says, descended to see the cry of the Sodomites; and another in the heavens, who is Lord of the Lord who appeared upon the earth, as Father and God, being the cause to Him of His existence and of His being powerful, and Lord, and God. And again, when the word says that God said in the beginning: "Behold, Adam has become as one of us" (Gen. III, 22), this "as one of us" also indicates number. These words do not admit of the tropology which the sophists attempt to interpret, and who are able neither to speak the truth nor to understand it. It is also said in Wisdom: "If I shall recount to you the things that happen day by day, I shall remember to number them from the beginning. The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works; before the age He founded me in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled; but before all the hills He begets me" (Prov. VIII, 22-25). And having said these things, I added: "Understand, O listeners, if you are also in fact paying attention, that the Word indicated that this offspring was begotten by the Father before all created things absolutely; and that the begotten is numerically distinct from the begetter, everyone will acknowledge."
B C 130. And when they all agreed, I said: "Some other testimonies, which I did not mention previously, I will now bring forward. They are spoken obscurely by the faithful servant Moses in this manner: 'Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all the angels of God worship Him' (Deut. XXXII, 43); and I added these things which follow in the Scripture: 'Rejoice, O nations, with His people, and let all the angels of God be strengthened in Him; because He avenges the blood of His sons, and will avenge, and will render justice to His enemies, and will repay those who hate Him, and the Lord will purge the land of His people.' And having said these things, I say that we, the nations, rejoice with His people—I mean Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets absolutely, and all those from that people who have been pleasing to God, according to the things we have agreed upon among ourselves. But we do not understand that all who are of your race will *hear*, since we have learned also through Isaiah that the limbs of those who have transgressed are to be eaten by the worm and by unquenchable fire, remaining immortal, so as to be a spectacle to all flesh" (Isa. LXVI, 24). And I wish, I said, to tell you also in addition to these things, O men, other words from the same... D
writings of Moses, from which you may be able to understand that God dispersed all men of old A according to their families and tongues; but from all the families He took your nation for Himself—a useless, disobedient, and faithless nation—and showed that those who, from every nation, choose to obey His will through Christ, whom He also calls Jacob and names Israel, must be both Jacob and Israel, as I have said in many places. For when he says, “Rejoice, O nations, with His people” (Deut. XXXII, 43), he assigns to them the same inheritance and gives them the same name. And by calling them "nations" and "rejoicing with His people," he uses the term "nations" as a reproach to you. For in the same way that you provoked Him to anger by worshiping idols, so too did He deign to make known His will to those who were idolaters, and B to grant them the inheritance that is with Him.
131. That the nations who have turned to Christ are more faithful to God than the Jews. — But, I said, I will bring forward the words from which it is shown that all nations have been divided by God. They are of this kind: “Ask thy father, and he will declare to you; your elders, and they will tell you, when the Most High divided the nations, when He dispersed the sons of Adam. He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel, and the portion of the Lord became His people Jacob, the cord of His inheritance, Israel” (Deut. XXXII, 7-9). And when I had said these things, I added: The Seventy translated it thus: “He set the boundaries of the C nations according to the number of the angels of God.” But I have cited your interpretation, because my argument is in no way diminished by it. But you, if you wish to confess the truth, will not deny that we are more faithful to God than you are—we, who have been called by God through the mystery of the cross, which is despised and full of reproach (to whose confession, and obedience, and piety, punishments even unto death are inflicted by the demons and the army of the devil through the service which you have rendered to them), and we endure all things so as not to deny Christ even with our voice, by whom we have been called to the salvation prepared by our Father, D we who have been redeemed from Egypt with a high arm and a visitation of great glory, when the sea was divided for you and a dry path was made, in which God slew those who pursued you with very great power and splendid chariots, by pouring upon them the sea which for your sake had been made passable; whereas you, I say, to whom a column of light shone, that you might, beyond all other people in the world, have an own and un-
undying light to enjoy: A to whom He rained down manna as food, the peculiar bread of celestial angels, so that you would not even have need of bread-making; B for whom the waters at Mara were made sweet; for whom, in short, the sign of Him who was to be crucified was shown, as I have already said, and when the serpents bit you—all the mysteries were granted to you by God before their proper times, in whom you have been proved to have been always ungrateful—and by the figure of the stretching out of the hands of Moses, and of him who was named Jesus, fighting against Amalek: concerning which God commanded the event to be recorded, C saying that it should be placed in your ears, that this is He who was about to blot out from under heaven the memorial of Amalek. And that the memorial of Amalek remains even after the son of Nave is evident; but that by Jesus who was crucified, of whom also those symbols were proclamations of all the things that would come to pass under Him, the demons are about to be destroyed, and to fear His name, and all principalities and kingdoms alike to dread Him, and that out of every race of men those who believe in Him are shown to be pious and peaceful, is made manifest, D and these things previously recounted by me, Trypho, signify. And such a quantity of quails was granted to you when you desired meat, as was beyond counting; for whom also water gushed from the rock, and a cloud followed, providing shade from the heat and protection from the cold, in the manner of a new and strange heaven, and announcing a prophecy: whose sandal-straps did not break, nor did the sandals themselves grow old, nor the garments wear out, but even grew with the younger ones.
152. Moreover, you fashioned a calf, and were zealous to fornicate with the daughters of foreigners and to worship idols; and after these things, again, when the land was delivered to you with such power that you beheld even the sun, at the command of that man who was surnamed Jesus, standing still in heaven and not setting for thirty-six hours, and all the other powers which were granted to you at various times; of which it seems to me better to recount one other at this time. For it contributes to the end that you might even from it understand Jesus, whom we have recognized as Christ, the Son of God, crucified, and risen, and having ascended
A into the heavens, and who will come again as Judge of all men whatsoever, even unto Adam himself. You know, therefore, I said, that when the tabernacle of testimony had been captured by the enemies around Azotus, and a fearful and incurable plague had befallen them, they concluded to place it upon a cart, to which they yoked heifers that had recently calved, for the sake of putting to the test whether they had been struck by the power of God because of the tabernacle, and whether God wished for it to be brought back to where it had been taken from. And when they had done this, the heifers, led by no man, did not come to the place from which the tabernacle had been taken, but to the field of a certain man named Auses, having the same name as that man who, as has been said before, was renamed with the name of Jesus, and who led the people into the land and gave it to them as an inheritance. When they came into the field, they stood still; from which it is also shown to you that they were led by the power of the name; just as before, the remnant of the people who had departed from Egypt were led into the land by him who received the name of Jesus, being formerly called Auses.
133. That the hardness of heart of the Jews is the cause of the Christians praying for them.
— And since you have had B these and other such miracles, and have seen them at various times, you are also rebuked by the prophets, because you have even sacrificed your own children to demons; and in addition to these wicked deeds, you have dared and still dare such things against Christ; from all of which may you, by obtaining mercy from God and His Christ, be saved. For through the prophet Isaiah, God, foreseeing that you would do these things, cursed you thus: « Woe to their soul, for they have counseled a wicked counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, for he is unprofitable to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own works. Woe to the wicked man! Evil shall befall him according to the works of his hands. O my people, your exactors glean you, and those who demand C will lord it over you. O my people, they who call you blessed deceive you, and disturb the path of your ways. But now the Lord will stand for judgment, and He Himself shall come to judgment with the elders of the people and their princes. But why have you burnt my vineyard, and why is the plunder of the poor in your houses? Why do you do injury to my people, and put the face of the humble to shame? » And in other words, the same prophet spoke again on the same subject: « Woe to those who draw their sins as if with a long rope, and their iniquities as if with a heifer’s yoke-strap; who say: Let his speed draw near, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put D darkness for light, andlight for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and learned in their own sight. Woe to your strong men, who drink wine, and you powerful men who mix strong drink; who justify the ungodly for the sake of bribes, and take away the justice of the just! Therefore, as stubble is burned by a coal of fire, and is consumed by a flaming heat, so their root shall be as chaff, and their flower shall go up like dust. A For they would not have the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but provoked the utterance of the Holy One of Israel. And the Lord of Sabaoth was angered with wrath, and he laid his hands upon them, and smote them, and he was provoked against the mountains; and their dead bodies became as dung in the midst of the way. And in all these things they did not turn away B, but their hand is still lifted up. For in truth your hand is still lifted up to do evil, since, even after killing Christ, you do not even then repent, but you even hate and murder us who believe through him in God and the Father of all, as often as you get the power; and you unceasingly curse both him and those who are his, while we all pray for you and for all men without exception, as we have been taught by our Christ and Lord to do; for he commanded us to pray even for our enemies, and to love those who hate us, and to bless those who curse us.
134. If, therefore, the doctrine of the prophets and of that very person moves you, it is better for you to follow God than your imprudent and blind C teachers, who even until now permit every man to have four or five wives, and if any man, on seeing a beautiful woman, should desire her, they bring forward the deeds of Jacob, who was called Israel, and of the other patriarchs, and claim that those who act in like manner commit no sin; these men are wretched and foolish even in this. For, as I have already said, dispensations of great mysteries were performed in every single such action. For I will tell you what dispensation and prefiguration was performed in the marriages of Jacob, so that you may also recognize in these that your teachers have always looked not to the more divine cause of any deed, but rather to those things that creep upon the ground and are full of D the passions of corruption. Attend, therefore, to what I say. The marriages of Jacob were types of that which Christ was to accomplish. For it was not lawful for Jacob to marry two sisters at the same time. He served Laban for his daughters, and, being deceived in the younger,
he served another seven years. Now Leah is your people and the Synagogue; but Rachel is our Church. And for these, even until now, Christ serves, as well as for the servants who are in both. For since Noah consigned the offspring of the third son into slavery, and Christ has now come for the restoration of both the free children and the servants who are among them, granting the same dignity to all who keep His commandments; just as all those whom Jacob had adopted as sons from his free wives and from his maidservants became equally children and equal in honor. But it was predicted in accordance with the order and foreknowledge of what each one would be. Jacob served Laban for the speckled and various sheep; B Christ also performed a service even unto the cross for the various and multiform people of every race, acquiring them by His blood and the mystery of the cross. Leah’s eyes were weak; and indeed, the eyes of your soul are very weak. Rachel stole the gods of Laban and hid them until this very day; for us, too, our ancestral and material gods have perished. Jacob was hated by his brother for all time; and now we, and the Lord Himself, are hated by you and by all men in general, although all are by nature brothers. Jacob was surnamed Israel; and it has been demonstrated that Christ is also Israel, who is and is called Jesus.
135.
Christ, King of Israel and the Israelitish race of Christians.
— And when Scripture says, "I am the Lord God, your Holy One, who showed Israel your king"; will you not truly understand this to be Christ, the everlasting King? For you know that Jacob, the son of Isaac, was never a king. And so, again, Scripture, explaining to us whom it designates as king by the names Jacob and Israel, speaks thus: "Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; and Israel is my chosen, my soul shall receive him. I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor shall his voice be heard outside. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, until he brings forth victory. He shall receive judgment and shall not be weakened, until he establishes judgment on the earth. And in His name the Gentiles shall hope." Do those who are from the Gentiles, or even you yourselves, place your hope in the patriarch Jacob, and not in Christ? Therefore, just as it calls Christ "Israel" and "Jacob," so we, who have been hewn from the womb of Christ, are the true Israelitish race. But let us rather direct our attention to the text of Scripture itself: "And I will bring forth," it says, "that seed from Jacob and from Judah; and it shall inherit my holy mountain; and my chosen and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there; and they shall be in the forest, folds of flocks[...]"and the valley of Achor a place of rest for the herds of the people who have sought me. But you who forsake me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for demons, and fill up the mixed drink for the daemon, I will deliver you to the sword. Ye shall all fall by slaughter, because I called you, and ye did not obey, and ye did evil in my sight, and chose that which I would not. B And these belong to the Scripture. You yourselves also understand that the seed from Jacob, of which the Scripture now speaks, is something else, and is not, as one might think, spoken of your people. For it is not possible that those who have been born from Jacob should leave room for those who were sown from Jacob to enter in, nor that the same prophet who reproaches the people as unworthy of the inheritance should again, as if changing his own mind, promise the inheritance to those same people. But in the same way as the prophet there says: "And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He has dismissed His people, the house of Jacob, because their land was filled, as from the beginning, with divinations and vaticinations," so also in this place we must understand two seeds of Judah, and two generations, even as the two houses of Jacob; the one having been born of blood and flesh, the other born of faith and spirit.
136. See, indeed, how He now addresses the people. After He said above, "As the berry shall be found in the bunch, and they shall say, Do not spoil it, for a blessing is in it; so will I do for the sake of the one who serves me; because of this I will not destroy all," He then inserts this: "And I will bring forth the seed from Jacob and from Judah." It is manifest, therefore, if He is thus angry with these, and threatens that He will leave but a very few, that He promises that He will bring forth certain others who shall dwell in His holy mountain. And these are no other than those whom He said He would sow and generate. C For you neither endure Him when He calls, nor do you hear when He speaks, but you have even done evil in the sight of the Lord. But your wickedness truly overflows in this, that you even hate the just one, whom you killed, and those who have received from Him to be what they are—pious, just, and humane. Therefore, "Woe to their soul," says the Lord, "for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us take away the just one, for he is useless to us." For it is not that you offer sacrifice to Baal, as your fathers did, nor do you offer cakes in groves or in high places to the host of heaven; but it is because you have not received His Christ. For whoever is ignorant of Him is ignorant also of the counsel of God; and whoever insults and hates Him, he likewise hates and insults Him by whom He was sent. And if anyone does not believe in Him, he does not believe the proclamations of the prophets who announced Him and preached Him to all. D
137. Do not, brethren, say anything evil against the Crucified One, and do not mock the welts of his wounds, by which it is possible for all to be healed, just as we also have been healed. For it would be excellent if, by assenting to the Scriptures, you were to receive the circumcision of the hard heart, which you have—not, B as I said, because it is being brought about through you, since it was given as a sign, but not as a work of righteousness, as the Scriptures necessarily demonstrate. Assent, therefore, and do not make a reproach against the Son of God; and do not, acting in accordance with the Pharisaic teachers, ever mock the King of Israel, as your synagogue leaders teach you to do after the prayer. For if he who touches those things that are not pleasing to God is, as it were, touching the pupil of God’s eye, how much more does he who touches the Beloved one do so? And that this one is he, and is sufficiently demonstrated, [is clear]. And while they were silent, I said: Truly, friends, I am now citing the Scriptures as the Seventy translated them; for when I previously cited them as you have them, I was putting you to the test, to see how you were already disposed in your mind. For while citing the Scripture which says, “Woe to them, for they have plotted an evil plot against themselves, saying,” I added, as the Seventy translated: “Let us remove the just one, for he is useless to us,” having at the beginning of the discourse said what you wished to have said, when you said: “Let us bind the just one, for he is useless to us.” But you did other things, and you do not seem to me to be unaware C of the words.
A But since the day is now already beginning to draw to an end—for the sun is already sinking—I shall add one thing to what has been said, and then stop. I have indeed already touched upon this very thing in what has been said, but it seems right to me to expend some further effort on it. B Know, therefore, O men, that it was said by God in Isaiah to Jerusalem: “In the flood of Noe I saved you.” Now, what God meant by this is that the mystery of human salvation occurred at the time of the flood. For the just Noe, together with the other people at the time of the flood—that is, his wife, his three sons, and the wives of his sons—who were eight in number, possessed a sign of the eighth day, on which our Christ appeared, having risen from the dead, though by power He is always the first. For Christ, being the first-born of every creature, became again the beginning of another race, which has been regenerated by Him through water, and faith, and wood, which contains the mystery of the cross; just as Noe, too, was saved upon the wood, being borne over the waters together with his own. Therefore, when the prophet says, “In the time of Noe I saved you,” as I have already said, he speaks to a people who are equally faithful to God and who possess these same signs. For Moses, too, holding a staff in his hand, led your people through the sea. Yet you suppose that he said these things only for your race or for the earth. But since the entire earth, as the Scripture says, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains, it is clear that God did not say these things to the earth, but to the people C who obey Him, for whom He even prepared rest in Jerusalem, as has been shown beforehand through all the signs at the time of the flood. And I said that those who make preparation through water, and faith, and wood, and who repent of the sins they have committed, will escape the judgment of God that is coming.
139. For there is also another mystery regarding Noe that was prophesied, which you do not know. And it is this. In the blessings with which Noe blesses his two sons, he curses the son of his son. For the prophetic Spirit could not have cursed the son who had been blessed together with his brothers by God. But since it was to occur that [the descendants] of the one who laughed at the nakedness of his father would bear the penalty of the sin—
A he made the beginning of the curse from his son. And in the things he said, he prophesied that those who would come from Shem would possess the properties and dwellings of Canaan; and again, that those from Japheth would take them, which those from Shem held from the descendants of Canaan, and would possess them, having taken them away from those born of Shem, just as they themselves had possessed them after they had been taken away from the sons of Canaan. And that this is what occurred, listen. For you, who trace your ancestry from Shem, came according to the will of God into the land of the sons of Canaan, and you possess it. And that the sons of Japheth, according to the judgment of God, also came upon you and took the land from you, and possessed it, is manifest. These things were spoken as follows: «And Noah awoke from the wine, and he knew all that his younger son had done to him; and he said: Cursed be the child Canaan; he shall be a servant to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. May the Lord enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the houses of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.» Since, therefore, two peoples were blessed, those from Shem and those from Japheth; and since it was decreed and foretold that the descendants from Shem would first hold the houses of Canaan, and that the descendants of Japheth would in turn receive the same properties from them; and since, of the two peoples, the one people sprung from Canaan had been delivered into servitude, Christ arrived according to the power given to him by the omnipotent Father, and calling them into friendship and blessing and repentance and a communion of good things—the one B that is to take place in that same land of all the saints, as has been shown before—he promised that they would possess it. Whence people from everywhere, whether slaves or free, believing in Christ and knowing the truth in his words and those of his prophets, know that they will be with him in that land and will inherit eternal and incorruptible goods.
140. In C Christ all are free. In vain do the Jews hope for salvation because they are children of Abraham. Hence also Jacob, as I said before, being himself a type of Christ, had taken the two handmaids of his two free wives, and from them he had children, so that it might be foretold that Christ would also take those in the race of Japheth—who are all sprung from Canaan—just like the free [children], and would have them as joint heirs. And these we are; but you cannot understand this, because you cannot drink from the living fountain of God, but from broken cisterns, which cannot contain water, as the Scripture says. Broken cisterns, then, not containing water, are those which your teachers have dug for you, as the Scripture also explicitly says, teaching doctrines and commandments of men. D
A Moreover, they deceive both themselves and you by supposing that the eternal kingdom will certainly be given to those who are of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, even if they are sinners, unbelieving, and disobedient towards God; which the Scriptures demonstrate not to be true. For would Isaiah not have said this: "And unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah"? And Ezekiel, that: "Even if Noah and Jacob and Daniel should request sons or daughters, they shall not be given to them." But neither shall a father perish for a son, nor a son for a father, but each shall perish by his own sin, and each shall be saved by his own righteous deeds. And again Isaiah: "They shall behold the corpses of those who have transgressed; their worm shall not cease, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." And our Lord, according to the will of the Father who sent Him and is the Master of all, would not have said: "They shall come from the west and the east, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness." But also that it is not by the fault of God that those who are foreseen to be likely to become unrighteous, whether angels or men, become depraved, but that each one is such by his own fault, according as each shall appear, I have demonstrated even in what was said before.
141. That you may not have a pretext to say that it was necessary for Christ to be crucified, or for those who transgress to be in our race, and that it could not have been otherwise, I have already B anticipated by saying briefly that God, wishing for angels and human beings to follow His counsel, willed to create them with power over their own actions for the practice of righteousness, endowed with reason to know by whom they were created and through whom they exist, whereas before they were not, and with a law to be judged by Him if they act contrary to right reason; and we, human beings and angels, shall be convicted of having done evil on our own account, unless we prevent this by turning to repentance. But if the word of God foretells that certain angels and human beings are going to be punished, it is because He foresaw that they would be unchangeable in their wickedness C and because they would be such, not because God made them such. So that if they repent, all who wish to obtain the mercy of God can do so, and the Scripture pronounces them blessed, saying: "Blessed is the one to whom the Lord shall not impute sin," which means this: that having repented of his sins, he may receive remission of sins from God; but not as you deceive yourDselves.
A And there are others like you in this respect, who say that even if they are sinners, yet because they know God, the Lord will not impute sin to them. We have as a testimony of this that one fall of David, which took place because of his boasting, which was then forgiven when he wept and lamented as the Scripture testifies. If to such a man forgiveness was not granted before he had done penance, but only when he had so wept and conducted himself—that great king, and anointed one, and prophet—how can those who are impure and utterly abandoned, if they do not mourn and beat their breasts and repent, have any hope that the Lord will not impute sin to them? And this one act of David's transition, namely that with the wife of Uriah, O men, I said, shows that the patriarchs did not have many wives so that they might commit adultery, but that there was some dispensation and that all mysteries were fulfilled through them. For if it were permitted to whomsoever wishes, and in the manner he wishes, and as many as he wishes to take wives—a thing which those of your own race do throughout the entire world, wherever they may settle or be sent, taking wives in the name of marriage—how much more would this have been permitted to David? Having said these things, dearest Marcus Pompeius, I brought the discourse to an end.
142. They give thanks, and depart from Justin. B But Tryphon, after holding his peace for a while, said, "You see that it was not by design that we came to converse about these matters. Indeed, I confess that I was greatly delighted by this meeting, and I think that these men are likewise disposed toward me. For we have found more than we expected, or than could ever have been expected. And if it were permitted for us to do this more often, we would certainly derive greater utility from examining the Scriptures themselves. But since, as you have said, you are prepared for travel, and look forward to sailing daily, do not C forget us, as you would friends, when you have departed."
As for me, I said, if I were remaining, I would wish for the same thing to happen daily. But since I look forward to setting sail, God willing and aiding, I exhort you that, embarking upon this great struggle for your own salvation, you may strive to prefer the Christ of the almighty God to your own teachers. After this, they departed, praying for my safety both from the voyage and from every evil. For my part, praying for them, I said, "I can wish for nothing greater for you, O men, than that, recognizing that through this path the understanding is given to every man, you yourselves also may come to believe, as we do, that Jesus is the Christ of God." D