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Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew
 Chapter 1.
Introduction.
While I was going about one morning in the walks of the Xystus, a
certain man, with others in his company, having met me, and said, "Hail, O
philosopher!" And immediately after saying this, he turned round and
walked along with me; his friends likewise followed him. And I in turn
having addressed him, said, "What is there important?"
And he replied, "I was instructed," says he "by Corinthus the Socratic
in Argos, that I ought not to despise or treat with indifference those who
array themselves in this dress but to show them all kindness, and to
associate with them, as perhaps some advantage would spring from the
intercourse either to some such man or to myself. It is good, moreover,
for both, if either the one or the other be benefited. On this account,
therefore, whenever I see any one in such costume, I gladly approach him,
and now, for the same reason, have I willingly accosted you; and these
accompany me, in the expectation of hearing for themselves something
profitable from you."
"But who are you, most excellent man?" So I replied to him in jest
Then he told me frankly both his name and his family. "Trypho," says
he, "I am called; and I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, and having
escaped from the war lately carried on there I am spending my days in
Greece, and chiefly at Corinth."
"And in what," said I, "would you be profited by philosophy so much as
by your own lawgiver and the prophets?"
"Why not?" he replied. "Do not the philosophers turn every discourse on
God? and do not questions continually arise to them about His unity and
providence ? Is not this truly the duty of philosophy, to investigate the
Deity?"
"Assuredly," said I, "so we too have believed. But the most have not
taken thought of this whether there be one or more gods, and whether they
have a regard for each one of us or no, as if this knowledge contributed
nothing to our happiness; nay, they moreover attempt to persuade us that
God takes care of the universe with its genera and species, but not of me
and you, and each individually, since otherwise we would surely not need
to pray to Him night and day. But it is not difficult to understand the
upshot of this; for fearlessness and license in speaking result to such as
maintain these opinions, doing and saying whatever they choose, neither
dreading punishment nor hoping for any benefit from God. For how could
they? They affirm that the same things shall always happen; and. further,
that I and you shall again live in like manner, having become neither
better men nor worse. But there are some others, who, having supposed the
soul to be immortal and immaterial, believe that though they have
committed evil they will not suffer punishment (for that which is
immaterial is insensible), and that the soul, in consequence of its
immortality, needs nothing from God."
And he, smiling gently, said, "Tell us your opinion of these matters,
and what idea you entertain respecting God, and what your philosophy
is."
Chapter 2.
Justin Describes His Studies in Philosophy.
"I will tell you," said I, "what seems to me; for philosophy is, in
fact, the greatest possession, and most honourable before God, to whom it
leads us and alone commends us; and these are truly holy men who have
bestowed attention on philosophy. What philosophy is, however, and the
reason why it has been sent down to men, have escaped the observation of
most; for there would be neither Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics,
nor Theoretics, nor Pythagoreans, this knowledge being one. I wish
to tell you why it has become many-headed. It has happened that those who
first handled it [i.e., philosophy], and who were therefore esteemed
illustrious men, were succeeded by those who made no investigations
concerning truth, but only admired the perseverance and self-discipline of
the former, as well as the novelty of the doctrines; and each thought that
to be true which he learned from his teacher: then, moreover, those latter
persons handed down to their successors such things, and others
similar to them; and this system was called by the name of him who was
styled the father of the doctrine. Being at first desirous of personally
conversing with one of these men, I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic;
and having spent a considerable time with him, when I had not acquired any
further knowledge of God (for he did not know himself, and said such
instruction was unnecessary), I left him and betook myself to another, who
was called a Peripatetic, and as he fancied, shrewd. And this man,
after having entertained me for the first few days, requested me to settle
the fee, in order that our intercourse might not be unprofitable. Him,
too, for this reason I abandoned, believing him to be no philosopher at
all. But when my soul was eagerly desirous to hear the peculiar and choice
philosophy, I came to a Pythagorean, very celebrated-a man who thought
much of his own wisdom. And then, when I had an interview with him,
willing to become his hearer and disciple, he said, `What then? Are you
acquainted with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you expect to perceive
any of those things which conduce to a happy life, if you have not been
first informed on those points which wean the soul from sensible objects,
and render it fitted for objects which appertain to the mind, so that it
can contemplate that which is honourable in its essence and that which is
good in its essence? 'Having commended many of these branches of learning,
and telling me that they were necessary, he dismissed me when I confessed
to him my ignorance. Accordingly I took it rather impatiently, as was to
be expected when I failed in my hope, the more so because I deemed the man
had some knowledge; but reflecting again on the space of time during which
I would have to linger over those branches of learning, I was not able to
endure longer procrastination. In my helpless condition it occurred to me
to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I
thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately
settled in our city, -a sagacious man, holding a high position among the
Platonists,-and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily.
And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the
contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little
while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I
expected forthwith to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's
philosophy.
Chapter 3.
Justin Narrates the Manner of His Conversion.
"And while I was thus disposed, when I wished at one period to be
filled with great quietness, and to shun the path of men, I used to go
into a certain field not far from the sea. And when I was near that spot
one day, which having reached I purposed to be by myself, a certain old
man, by no means contemptible in appearance, exhibiting meek and venerable
manners, followed me at a little distance. And when I turned round to him,
having halted, I fixed my eyes rather keenly on him.
"And he said, `Do you know me? '
"I replied in the negative.
"`Why, then, 'said he to me, `do you so look at me? '
"`I am astonished, 'I said, `because you have chanced to be in my
company in the same place; for I had not expected to see any man
here.'
"And he says to me, `I am concerned about some of my household. These
are gone away from me; and therefore have I come to make personal search
for them, if, perhaps, they shall make their appearance somewhere. But why
are you here? 'said he to me.
"`I delight, 'said I, `in such walks, where my attention is not
distracted, for converse with myself is uninterrupted; and such places are
most fit for philology.'
"`Are you, then, a philologian, ' said he, `but no lover of deeds or of
truth? and do you not aim at being a practical man so much as being a
sophist? '
"`What greater work, 'said I, `could one accomplish than this, to show
the reason which governs all, and having laid hold of it, and being
mounted upon it, to look down on the errors of others, and their pursuits?
But without philosophy and right reason, prudence would not be present to
any man. Wherefore it is necessary for every man to philosophize, and to
esteem this the greatest and most honourable work; but other things only
of second-rate or third-rate importance, though, indeed, if they be made
to depend on philosophy, they are of moderate value, and worthy of
acceptance; but deprived of it, and not accompanying it, they are vulgar
and coarse to those who pursue them.'
"`Does philosophy, then, make happiness? 'said he, interrupting.
"`Assuredly, 'I said, `and it alone.'
"`What, then, is philosophy? 'he says; `and what is happiness? Pray
tell me, unless something hinders you from saying.'
"`Philosophy, then, 'said I, `is the knowledge of that which really
exists, and a clear perception of the truth; and happiness is the reward
of such knowledge and wisdom.'
"`But what do you call God? 'said he.
"`That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner,
and is the cause of all other things-that, indeed, is God.' So I answered
him; and he listened to me with pleasure, and thus again interrogated
me:-
"`Is not knowledge a term common to different matters? For in arts of
all kinds, he who knows any one of them is called a skilful man in the art
of generalship, or of ruling, or of healing equally. But in divine and
human affairs it is not so. Is there a knowledge which affords
understanding of human and divine things, and then a thorough acquaintance
with the divinity and the righteousness of them? '
"`Assuredly, 'I replied.
"`What, then? Is it in the same way we know man and God, as we know
music, and arithmetic, and astronomy, or any other similar branch? '
"`By no means, 'I replied.
"`You have not answered me correctly, then, 'he said; `for some
[branches of knowledge] come to us by learning, or by some employment,
while of others we have knowledge by sight. Now, if one were to tell you
that there exists in India an animal with a nature unlike all others, but
of such and such a kind, multiform and various, you would not know it
before you saw it; but neither would you be competent to give any account
of it, unless you should hear from one who had seen it.'
"`Certainly not, 'I said.
"`How then, 'he said, `should the philosophers judge correctly about
God, or speak any truth, when they have no knowledge of Him, having
neither seen Him at any time, nor heard Him? '
"`But, father, 'said I, `the Deity cannot be seen merely by the eyes,
as other living beings can, but is discernible to the mind alone, as Plato
says; and I believe him.'
Chapter 4.
The Soul of Itself Cannot See
God.
"`Is there then, 'says he, `such and so great power in our mind? Or can
a man not perceive by sense sooner? Will the mind of man see God at any
time, if it is uninstructed by the Holy Spirit? '
"`Plato indeed says, 'replied I, `that the mind's eye is of such a
nature, and has been given for this end, that we may see that very Being
when the mind is pure itself, who is the cause of all discerned by the
mind, having no colour, no form, no greatness-nothing, indeed, which the
bodily eye looks upon; but It is something of this sort, he goes on to
say, that is beyond all essence, unutterable and inexplicable, but alone
honourable and good, coming suddenly into souls well-dispositioned, on
account of their affinity to and desire of seeing Him.'
"`What affinity, then, 'replied he, `is there between us and God? Is
the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very regal mind? And
even as that sees God, so also is it attainable by us to conceive of the
Deity in our mind, and thence to become happy? '
"`Assuredly, 'I said.
"`And do all the souls of all living beings comprehend Him? 'he asked;
`or are the souls of men of one kind and the souls of horses and of asses
of another kind? '
"`No; but the souls which are in all are similar, 'I answered.
"`Then, 'says he, `shall both horses and asses see, or have they seen
at some time or other, God? '
"`No, 'I said; `for the majority of men will not, saving such as shall
live justly, purified by righteousness, and by every other virtue.'
"`It is not, therefore, 'said he, `on account of his affinity, that a
man sees God, nor because he has a mind, but because he is temperate and
righteous? '
"`Yes, 'said I; `and because he has that whereby he perceives God.'
"`What then? Do goats or sheep injure any one? '
"`No one in any respect, 'I said.
"`Therefore these animals will see [God] according to your account,
'says he.
"`No; for their body being of such a nature, is an obstacle to
them.'
"He rejoined, `If these animals could assume speech, be well assured
that they would with greater reason ridicule our body; but let us now
dismiss this subject, and let it be conceded to you as you say. Tell me,
however, this: Does the soul see [God] so long as it is in the body, or
after it has been removed from it? '
"`So long as it is in the form of a man, it is possible for it, 'I
continue, `to attain to this by means of the mind; but especially when it
has been set free from the body, and being apart by itself, it gets
possession of that which it was wont continually and wholly to love.'
"`Does it remember this, then [the sight of God], when it is again in
the man? '
"`It does not appear to me so, 'I said.
"`What, then, is the advantage to those who have seen [God]? or what
has he who has seen more than he who has not seen, unless he remember this
fact, that he has seen? '
"`I cannot tell, 'I answered.
"`And what do those suffer who are judged to be unworthy of this
spectacle? 'said he.
"`They are imprisoned in 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
forms, and that they have committed some sin? '
"`I do not think so.'
"`Then these reap no advantage from their punishment, as it seems:
moreover, I would say that they are not punished unless they are conscious
of the punishment.'
"`No indeed.'
"`Therefore souls neither see God nor transmigrate into other bodies;
for they would know that so they are punished, and they would be afraid to
commit even the most trivial sin afterwards. But that they can perceive
that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honourable, I also
quite agree with you, 'said he.
"`You are right, 'I replied.
Chapter 5.
The Soul is Not in Its Own Nature
Immortal.
"`These philosophers know nothing, then, about these things; for they
cannot tell what a soul is.'
"`It does not appear so.'
"`Nor ought it to be called immortal; for if it is immortal, it is
plainly unbegotten.'
"`It is both unbegotten and immortal, according to some who are styled
Platonists.'
"`Do you say that the world is also unbegotten? '
"`Some say so. I do not, however, agree with them.'
"`You are right; for what reason has one for supposing that a body so
solid, possessing resistance, composite, changeable, decaying, and renewed
every day, has not arisen from some cause? But if the world is begotten,
souls also are necessarily begotten; and perhaps at one time they were not
in existence, for they were made on account of men and other living
creatures, if you will say that they have been begotten wholly apart, and
not along with their respective bodies.'
"`This seems to be correct.'
"`They are not, then, immortal? '
"`No; since the world has appeared to us to be begotten.'
"`But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a
piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious
remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a
worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared
worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them
to exist and to be punished.'
"`Is what you say, then, of a like nature with that which Plato in
Timoeus hints about the world, when he says that it is indeed
subject to decay, inasmuch as it has been created, but that it will
neither be dissolved nor meet with the fate of death on account of the
will of God? Does it seem to you the very same can be said of the soul,
and generally of all things? For those things which exist after God, or
shall at any time exist, these have the nature of decay, and are such as
may be blotted out and cease to exist; for God alone is unbegotten and
incorruptible, and therefore He is God, but all other things after Him are
created and corruptible. For this reason souls both die and are punished:
since, if they were unbegotten, they would neither sin, nor be filled with
folly, nor be cowardly, and again ferocious; nor would they willingly
transform into swine, and serpents, and dogs and it would not indeed be
just to compel them, if they be unbegotten. For that which is unbegotten
is similar to, equal to, and the same with that which is unbegotten; and
neither in power nor in honour should the one be preferred to the other,
and hence there are not many things which are unbegotten: for if there
were some difference between them, you would not discover the cause of the
difference, though you searched for it; but after letting the mind ever
wander to infinity, you would at length, wearied out, take your stand on
one Unbegotten, and say that this is the Cause of all. Did such escape the
observation of Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men, ' I said, `who have
been as a wall and fortress of philosophy to us? '
Chapter 6.
These Things Were Unknown Plato and Other Philosophers.
"`It makes no matter to me, 'said he, `whether Plato or Pythagoras, or,
in short, any other man held such opinions. For the truth is so; and you
would perceive it from this. The soul assuredly is or has life. If, then,
it is life, it would cause something else, and not itself, to live, even
as motion would move something else than itself. Now, that the soul lives,
no one would deny. But if it lives, it lives not as being life, but as the
partaker of life; but that which partakes of anything, is different from
that of which it does partake. Now the soul partakes of life, since God
wills it to live. Thus, then, it will not even partake [of life] when God
does not will it to live. For to live is not its attribute, as it is
God's; but as a man does not live always, and the soul is not for ever
conjoined with the body, since, whenever this harmony must be broken up,
the soul leaves the body, and the man exists no longer; even so, whenever
the soul must cease to exist, the spirit of life is removed from it, and
there is no more soul, but it goes back to the place from whence it was
taken.'
Chapter 7.
The Knowledge of Truth to Be Sought from
the Prophets Alone.
"`Should any one, then, employ a teacher? 'I say, `or whence may any
one be helped, if not even in them there is truth? '
"`There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than
all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by
God, who spoke by the Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take
place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These
alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor
fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those
things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the
Holy Spirit. Their writings are still extant, and he who has read them is
very much helped in his knowledge of the beginning and end of things, and
of those matters which the philosopher ought to know, provided he has
believed them. For they did not use demonstration in their treatises,
seeing that they were witnesses to the truth above all demonstration, and
worthy of belief; and those events which have happened, and those which
are happening, compel you to assent to the utterances made by them,
although, indeed, they were entitled to credit on account of the miracles
which they performed, since they both glorified the Creator, the God and
Father of all things, and proclaimed His Son, the Christ [sent] by Him:
which, indeed, the false prophets, who are filled with the lying unclean
spirit, neither have done nor do, but venture to work certain wonderful
deeds for the purpose of astonishing men, and glorify the spirits and
demons of error. But pray that, above all things, the gates of light may
be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by
all, but only by the man to whom God and His Christ have imparted
wisdom.'
Chapter 8.
Justin by His Colloquy is Kindled with
Love to Christ.
"When he had spoken these and many other things, which there is no time
for mentioning at present, he went away, bidding me attend to them; and I
have not seen him since. But straightway a flame was kindled in my soul;
and a love of the prophets, and of those men who are friends of Christ,
possessed me; and whilst revolving his words in my mind, I found this
philosophy alone to be safe and profitable. Thus, and for this reason, I
am a philosopher. Moreover, I would wish that all, making a resolution
similar to my own, do not keep themselves away from the words of the
Saviour. For they possess a terrible power in themselves, and are
sufficient to inspire those who turn aside from the path of rectitude with
awe; while the sweetest rest is afforded those who make a diligent
practice of them. If, then, you have any concern for yourself, and if you
are eagerly looking for salvation, and if you believe in God, you
may-since you are not indifferent to the matter. -become acquainted with
the Christ of God, and, after being initiated, live a happy life."
When I had said this, my beloved friends those who were with Trypho
laughed; but he, smiling, says, "I approve of your other remarks, and
admire the eagerness with which you study divine things; but it were
better for you still to abide in the philosophy of Plato, or of some other
man, cultivating endurance, self-control, and moderation, rather than be
deceived by false words, and follow the opinions of men of no reputation.
For if you remain in that mode of philosophy, and live blamelessly, a hope
of a better destiny were left to you; but when you have forsaken God, and
reposed confidence in man, what safety still awaits you? If, then, you are
willing to listen to me (for I have already considered you a friend),
first be circumcised, then observe what ordinances have been enacted with
respect to the Sabbath, and the feasts, and the new moons of God; and, in
a word, do all things which have been written in the law: and then perhaps
you shall obtain mercy from God. But Christ-if He has indeed been born,
and exists anywhere-is unknown, and does not even know Himself, and has no
power until Elias come to anoint Him, and make Him manifest to all. And
you, having accepted a groundless report, invent a Christ for yourselves,
and for his sake are inconsiderately perishing."
Chapter 9.
The Christians Have Not Believed Groundless Stories.
"I excuse and forgive you, my friend," I said. "For you know not what
you say, but have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the
Scriptures; and you speak, like a diviner, whatever comes into your mind.
But if you are willing to listen to an account of Him, how we have not
been deceived, and shall not cease to confess Him,-although men's
reproaches be heaped upon us, although the most terrible tyrant compel us
to deny Him,-I shall prove to you as you stand here that we have not
believed empty fables, or words without any foundation but words filled
with the Spirit of God, and big with power, and flourishing with
grace."
Then again those who were in his company laughed, and shouted in an
unseemly manner. Then I rose up and was about to leave; but he, taking
hold of my garment, said I should not accomplish that until I had
performed what I promised. "Let not, then, your companions be so
tumultuous, or behave so disgracefully," I said. "But if they wish, let
them listen in silence; or, if some better occupation prevent them, let
them go away; while we, having retired to some spot, and resting there,
may finish the discourse." It seemed good to Trypho that we should do so;
and accordingly, having agreed upon it, we retired to the middle space of
the Xystus. Two of his friends, when they had ridiculed and made game of
our zeal, went off. And when we were come to that place, where there are
stone seats on both sides, those with Trypho, having seated themselves on
the one side, conversed with each other, some one of them having thrown in
a remark about the war waged in Judaea.
Chapter 10.
Trypho Blames the Christians for This
Alone-The Non-Observance of the Law.
And when they ceased, I again addressed them thus:-
"Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than
this, that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh
as your forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do? Are our
lives and customs also slandered among you? And I ask this: have you also
believed concerning us, that we eat men; and that after the feast, having
extinguished the lights, we engage in promiscuous concubinage? Or do you
condemn us in this alone, that we adhere to such tenets, and believe in an
opinion, untrue, as you think? "
"This is what we are amazed at," said Trypho, "but those things about
which the multitude speak are not worthy of belief; for they are most
repugnant to human nature. Moreover, I am aware that your precepts in the
so-called Gospel are so wonderful and so great, that I suspect no one can
keep them; for I have carefully read them. But this is what we are most at
a loss about: that you, professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves
better than others, are not in any particular separated from them, and do
not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that you observe no
festivals or sabbaths, and do not have the rite of circumcision; and
further, resting your hopes on a man that was crucified, you yet expect to
obtain some good thing from God, while you do not obey His commandments.
Have you not read, that soul shall be cut off from his people who shall
not have been circumcised on the eighth day? And this has been ordained
for strangers and for slaves equally. But you, despising this covenant
rashly, reject the consequent duties, and attempt to persuade yourselves
that you know God, when, however, you perform none of those things which
they do who fear God. If, therefore, you can defend yourself on these
points, and make it manifest in what way you hope for anything whatsoever,
even though you do not observe the law, this we would very gladly hear
from you, and we shall make other similar investigations."
Chapter 11.
The Law Abrogated; The New Testament
Promised and Given by God.
"There will be no other God, O Trypho, nor was there from eternity any
other existing" (I thus addressed him), "but He who made and disposed all
this universe. Nor do we think that there is one God for us, another for
you, but that He alone is God who led your fathers out from Egypt with a
strong hand and a high arm. Nor have we trusted in any other (for there is
no other), but in Him in whom you also have trusted, the God of Abraham,
and of Isaac, and of Jacob. But we do not trust through Moses or through
the law; for then we would do the same as yourselves. But now-(for I have read that there shall be a final law, and a covenant, the
chiefest of all, which it is now incumbent on all men to observe, as many
as are seeking after the inheritance of God. For the law promulgated on
Horeb is now old, and belongs to yourselves alone; but this is for
all universally. Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is
before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end
to the previous one; and an eternal and final law-namely, Christ-has been
given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be
no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Have you not read this which Isaiah
says: `Hearken unto Me, hearken unto Me, my people; and, ye kings, give
ear unto Me: for a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shall be
for a light to the nations. My righteousness approaches swiftly, and My
salvation shall go forth, and nations shall trust in Mine arm? ' And by
Jeremiah, concerning this same new covenant, He thus speaks: `Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which
I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to
bring them out of the land of Egypt' ). If, therefore, God proclaimed a
new covenant which was to be instituted, and this for a light of the
nations, we see and are persuaded that men approach God, leaving their
idols and other unrighteousness, through the name of Him who was
crucified, Jesus Christ, and abide by their confession even unto death,
and maintain piety. Moreover, by the works and by the attendant miracles,
it is possible for all to understand that He is the new law, and the new
covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for
the good things of God. For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of
Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of
and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the father of many
nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ,
as shall be demonstrated while we proceed.
Chapter 12.
The Jews Violate the Eternal Law, and
Interpret ILL that of Moses.
I also adduced another passage in which Isaiah exclaims: "`Hear My
words, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a
witness to the people: nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee;
peoples who know not Thee shall escape to Thee, because of thy God, the
Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified Thee.' This same law you have
despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither
receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. `For your ears are closed, your
eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened, 'Jeremiah has cried; yet not
even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him;
to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not
understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory
greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath,
and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not
discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened
bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does
not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or
a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him
repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one
has impure hands, let him wash and be pure.
Chapter 13.
Isaiah Teaches that Sins are Forgiven
Through Christ's Blood.
"For Isaiah did not send you to a bath, there to wash away murder and
other sins, which not even all the water of the sea were sufficient to
purge; but, as might have been expected, this was that saving bath of the
olden time which followed those who repented, and who no longer were
purified by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer,
or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of
Christ, and through His death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah
himself said, when he spake thus: `The Lord shall make bare His holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations, and all the nations and the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of God. Depart ye, depart ye, depart ye, go
ye out from thence, and touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of
her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, for ye go not with
haste. For the Lord shall go before you; and the Lord, the God of Israel,
shall gather you together. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; and He
shall be exalted, and be greatly glorified. As many were astonished at
Thee, so Thy form and Thy glory shall be marred more than men. So shall
many nations be astonished at Him, and the kings shall shut their mouths;
for that which had not been told them concerning Him shall they see, and
that which they had not heard shall they consider. Lord, who hath believed
our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have announced
Him as a child before Him, as a root in a dry ground. He hath no form or
comeliness, and when we saw Him He had no form or beauty; but His form is
dishonoured, and fails more than the sons of men. He is a man in
affliction, and acquainted with bearing sickness, because His face has
been turned away; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. He bears our
sins, and is distressed for us; and we esteemed Him to be in toil and in
affliction, and in evil treatment. But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him. With His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. Every man has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid
on Him our iniquities, and by reason of His oppression He opens not His
mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before
her shearer is dumb, so He openeth 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. Because of the transgressions of my people
He came unto death. And I will give the wicked for His grave, and the rich
for His death, because He committed no iniquity, and deceit was not found
in His mouth. And the Lord wills to purify Him from affliction. If he has
been given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord
wills to take His soul away from trouble, to show Him light, and to form
Him in understanding, to justify the righteous One who serves many well.
And He shall bear our sins; therefore He shall inherit many, and shall
divide the spoil of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death;
and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many,
and was delivered for their transgression. Sing, O barren, who bearest
not; break forth and cry aloud, thou who dost not travail in pain: for
more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife. For the Lord said, Enlarge the place of thy tent and of thy
curtains; fix them, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy
stakes; stretch forth to thy right and thy left; and thy seed shall
inherit the Gentiles, and thou shalt make the desolate cities to be
inherited. Fear not because thou art ashamed, neither be thou confounded
because thou hast been reproached; for thou shalt forget everlasting
shame, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood, because the
Lord has made a name for Himself, and He who has redeemed thee shall be
called through the whole earth the God of Israel. The Lord has called thee
as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, as a woman hated from her
youth.'
Chapter 14.
Righteousness is Not Placed in Jewish
Rites, But in the Conversion of the Heart Given in Baptism by
Christ.
"By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of
God, which has been ordained on account of the transgression of God's
people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testify that that very
baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have
repented; and this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have
dug for yourselves are broken and profitless to you. For what is the use
of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone? Baptize the soul
from wrath and from covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and, lo! the
body is pure. For this is the symbolic significance of unleavened bread,
that you do not commit the old deeds of wicked leaven. But you have
understood all things in a carnal sense, and you suppose it to be piety if
you do such things, while your souls are filled with deceit, and, in
short, with every wickedness. Accordingly, also, after the seven days of
eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to mingle new leaven, that is,
the performance of other works, and not the imitation of the old and evil
works. And because this is what this new Lawgiver demands of you, I shall
again refer to the words which have been quoted by me, and to others also
which have been passed over. They are related by Isaiah to the following
effect: `Hearken to me, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you
an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the
nations. Nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee; and peoples who
know not Thee shall escape unto Thee, because of Thy God, the Holy One of
Israel, for He has glorified Thee. Seek ye God; and when you find Him,
call on Him, so long as He may be nigh you. Let the wicked forsake his
ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the
Lord, and he will obtain mercy, because He will abundantly pardon your
sins. For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are my ways as
your ways; but as far removed as the heavens are from the earth, so far is
my way removed from your way, and your thoughts from my thoughts. For as
the snow or the rain descends from heaven, and shall not return till it
waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the
sower and bread for food, so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My
mouth: it shall not return until it shall have accomplished all that I
desired, and I shall make My commandments prosperous. For ye shall go out
with joy, and be taught with gladness. For the mountains and the hills
shall leap while they expect 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 brier shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord
shall be for a name, and for an everlasting sign, and He shall not fail!'
Of these and such like words written by the prophets, O Trypho," said I,
"some have reference to the first advent of Christ, in which He is
preached as inglorious, obscure, and of mortal appearance: but others had
reference to His second advent, when He shall appear in glory and above
the clouds; and your nation shall see and know Him whom they have pierced,
as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel, foretold.
Chapter 15.
In What the True Fasting
Consists.
"Learn, therefore, to keep the true fast of God, as Isaiah says, that
you may please God. Isaiah has cried thus: `Shout vehemently, and do not
spare: lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and show My people their
transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek Me from day
to day, and desire to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness,
and forsook not the judgment of God. They ask of Me now righteous
judgment, and desire to draw near to God, saying, Wherefore have we
fasted, and Thou seest not? and afflicted our souls, and Thou hast not
known? Because in the days of your fasting you find your own pleasure, and
oppress all those who are subject to you. Behold, ye fast for strifes and
debates, and smite the humble with your fists. Why do ye fast for Me, as
to-day, so that your voice is heard aloud? This is not the fast which I
have chosen, the day in which a man shall afflict his soul. And not even
if you bend your neck like a ring, or clothe yourself in sack-cloth and
ashes, shall you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord. This
is not the fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord; but loose every
unrighteous bond, dissolve the terms of wrongous covenants, let the
oppressed go free, and avoid every iniquitous contract. Deal thy bread to
the hungry, and lead the homeless poor under thy dwelling; if thou seest
the naked, clothe him; and do not hide thyself from thine own flesh. Then
shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy garments shall rise up
quickly: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God
shall envelope thee. Then shalt thou cry, and the Lord shall hear thee:
while thou art speaking, He will say, Behold, I am here. And if thou take
away from thee the yoke, and the stretching out of the hand, and the word
of murmuring; and shalt give heartily thy bread to the hungry, and shalt
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light arise in the darkness,
and thy darkness shall be as the noon-day: and thy God shall be with thee
continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desireth,
and thy bones shall become fat, and shall be as a watered garden, and as a
fountain of water, or as a land where water fails not.' `Circumcise,
therefore, the foreskin of your heart, 'as the words of God in all these
passages demand."
Chapter 16.
Circumcision Given as a Sign, that the
Jews Might Be Driven Away for Their Evil Deeds Done to Christ and the
Christians.
"And God himself proclaimed by Moses, speaking thus: `And circumcise
the hardness of your hearts, and no longer stiffen the neck. For the Lord
your God is both Lord of lords, and a great, mighty, and terrible God, who
regardeth not persons, and taketh not rewards.' And in Leviticus: `Because
they have transgressed against Me, and despised Me, and because they have
walked contrary to Me, I also walked contrary to them, and I shall cut
them off in the land of their enemies. Then shall their uncircumcised
heart be turned. For the circumcision according to the flesh, which is
from Abraham, was given for a sign; that you may be separated from other
nations, and from us; and that you alone may suffer that which you now
justly suffer; and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned
with fire; and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence, and not
one of you may go up to Jerusalem.' For you are not recognised among the
rest of men by any other mark than your fleshly circumcision. For none of
you, I suppose, will venture to say that God neither did nor does foresee
the events, which are future, nor fore-ordained his deserts for each one.
Accordingly, these things have happened to you in fairness and justice,
for you have slain the Just One, and His prophets before Him; and now you
reject those who hope in Him, and in Him who sent Him-God the Almighty and
Maker of all things-cursing in your synagogues those that believe on
Christ. For you have not the power to lay hands upon us, on account of
those who now have the mastery. But as often as you could, you did so.
Wherefore God, by Isaiah, calls to you, saying, `Behold how the righteous
man perished, and no one regards it. For the righteous man is taken away
from before iniquity. His grave shall be in peace, he is taken away from
the midst. Draw near hither, ye lawless children, seed of the adulterers,
and children of the whore. Against whom have you sported yourselves, and
against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened
the tongue? '
Chapter 17.
The Jews Sent Persons Through the Whole Earth to Spread Calumnies on Christians.
"For other nations have not inflicted on us and on Christ this wrong to
such an extent as you have, who in very deed are the authors of the wicked
prejudice against the Just One, and us who hold by Him. For after that you
had crucified Him, the only blameless and righteous Man,-through whose
swipes those who approach the Father by Him are healed,-when you knew that
He had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, as the prophets
foretold He would, you not only did not repent of the wickedness which you
had committed, but at that time you selected and sent out from Jerusalem
chosen men through all the land to tell that the godless heresy of the
Christians had sprung up, and to publish those things which all they who
knew us not speak against us. So that you are the cause not only of your
own unrighteousness, but in fact of that of all other men. And Isaiah
cries justly: `By reason of you, My name is blasphemed among the
Gentiles.' And: `Woe unto their soul! because they have devised an evil
device against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous, for he is
distasteful to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe
unto the wicked evil shall be rendered to him according to the works of
his hands.' And again, in other words: `Woe unto them that draw their
iniquity as with a long cord, and their transgressions as with the harness
of a heifer's yoke: who say, Let his speed come near; and let the counsel
of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put light for darkness, and darkness
for light; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!' Accordingly,
you displayed great zeal in publishing throughout all the land bitter and
dark and unjust things against the only blameless and righteous Light sent
by God.
For He appeared distasteful to you when He cried among you, `It is
written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of
thieves!' He overthrew also the tables of the money-changers in the
temple, and exclaimed, `Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
because ye pay tithe of mint and rue, but do not observe the love of God
and justice. Ye whited sepulchres! appearing beautiful outward, but are
within full of dead men's bones.' And to the Scribes, `Woe unto you,
Scribes! for ye have the keys, and ye do not enter in yourselves, and them
that are entering in ye hinder; ye blind guides!'
Chapter 18.
Christians Would Observe the Law, If They Did Not Know Why It Was Instituted.
"For since you have read, O Trypho, as you yourself admitted, the
doctrines taught by our Saviour, I do not think that I have done foolishly
in adding some short utterances of His to the prophetic statements. Wash
therefore, and be now clean, and put away iniquity from your souls, as God
bids you be washed in this laver, and be circumcised with the true
circumcision. For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the
Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason
they were enjoined you,-namely, on account of your transgressions and the
hardness of your hearts. For if we patiently endure all things contrived
against us by wicked men and demons, so that even amid cruelties
unutterable, death and torments, we pray for mercy to those who inflict
such things upon us, and do not wish to give the least retort to any one,
even as the new Lawgiver commanded us: how is it, Trypho, that we would
not observe those rites which do not harm us,-I speak of fleshly
circumcision, and Sabbaths, and feasts?
Chapter 19.
Circumcision Unknown Before Abraham. The Law Was Given by Moses on Account of the Hardness of Their
Hearts.
"It is this about which we are at a loss, and with reason, because,
while you endure such things, you do not observe all the other customs
which we are now discussing."
"This circumcision is not, however, necessary for all men, but for you
alone, in order that, as I have already said, you may suffer these things
which you now justly suffer. Nor do we receive that useless baptism of
cisterns, for it has nothing to do with this baptism of life. Wherefore
also God has announced that you have forsaken Him, the living fountain,
and digged for your selves broken cisterns which can hold no water. Even
you, who are the circumcised according to the flesh, have need of our
circumcision; but we, having the latter, do not require the former. For if
it were necessary, as you suppose, God would not have made Adam
uncircumcised; would not have had respect to the gifts of Abel when, being
uncircumcised, he offered sacrifice and would not have been pleased with
the uncircumcision of Enoch, who was not found, because God had translated
him. Lot, being uncircumcised, was saved from Sodom, the angels themselves
and the Lord sending him out. Noah was the beginning of our race; yet,
uncircumcised, along with his children he went into the ark. Melchizedek,
the priest of the Most High, was uncircumcised; to whom also Abraham the
first who received circumcision after the flesh, gave tithes, and he
blessed him: after whose order God declared, by the mouth of David, that
He would establish the everlasting priest. Therefore to you alone this
circumcision was necessary, in order that the people may be no people, and
the nation no nation; as also Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, declares.
Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned, though they kept no
Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his
descendants until Moses, under whom your nation appeared unrighteous and
ungrateful to God, making a calf in the wilderness: wherefore God,
accommodating Himself to that nation, enjoined them also to offer
sacrifices, as if to His name, in order that you might not serve idols.
Which precept, however, you have not observed; nay, you sacrificed your
children to demons. And you were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you
might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement,
saying, `That ye may know that I am God who redeemed you.'
Chapter 20.
Why Choice of Meats Was Prescribed.
"Moreover, you were commanded to abstain from certain kinds of food, in
order that you might keep God before your eyes while you ate and drank,
seeing that you were prone and very ready to depart from His knowledge, as
Moses also affirms: `The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.' And
again: `Jacob ate, and was satisfied, and waxed fat; and he who was
beloved kicked: he waxed fat, he grew thick, he was enlarged, and he
forsook God who had made him.' For it was told you by Moses in the book of
Genesis, that God granted to Noah, being a just man, to eat of every
animal, but not of flesh with the blood, which is dead." And as he
was ready to say, "as the green herbs," I anticipated him: "Why do you not
receive this statement, `as the green herbs, 'in the sense in which it was
given by God, to wit, that just as God has granted the herbs for
sustenance to man, even so has He given the animals for the diet of flesh?
But, you say, a distinction was laid down thereafter to Noah, because we
do not eat certain herbs. As you interpret it, the thing is incredible.
And first I shall not occupy myself with this, though able to say and to
hold that every vegetable is food, and fit to be eaten. But although we
discriminate between green herbs, not eating all, we refrain from eating
some, not because they are common or unclean, but because they are bitter,
or deadly, or thorny. But we lay hands on and take of all herbs which are
sweet, very nourishing and good, whether they are marine or land plants.
Thus also God by the mouth of Moses commanded you to abstain from unclean
and improper and violent animals: when, moreover, though you were eating
manna in the desert, and were seeing all those wondrous acts wrought for
you by God, you made and worshipped the golden calf. Hence he cries
continually, and justly, `They are foolish children, in whom is no faith.'
Chapter 21.
Sabbaths Were Instituted on Account of the People's Sins, and Not for a Work of Righteousness.
"Moreover, that God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath, and impose on you
other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on account of your
unrighteousness, and that of your fathers,-as He declares that for the
sake of the nations, lest His name be profaned among them, therefore He
permitted some of you to remain alive,-these words of His can prove to
you: they are narrated by Ezekiel thus: `I am the Lord your God; walk in
My statutes, and keep My judgments, and take no part in the customs of
Egypt; and hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and
you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding ye
rebelled against Me, and your children walked not in My statutes, neither
kept My judgments to do them: which if a man do, he shall live in them.
But they polluted My Sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out My fury
upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish My anger upon them; yet I did
it not; that My name might not be altogether profaned in the sight of the
heathen. I led them out before their eyes, and I lifted up Mine hand unto
them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and
disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed My
judgments, but had despised My statutes, and polluted My Sabbaths, and
their eyes were after the devices of their fathers. Wherefore I gave them
also statutes which were not good, and judgments whereby they shall not
live. And I shall pollute them in their own gifts, that I may destroy all
that openeth the womb, when I pass through them.'
Chapter 22.
So Also Were Sacrifices and
Oblations.
"And that you may learn that it was for the sins of your own nation,
and for their idolatries and not because there was any necessity for such
sacrifices, that they were likewise enjoined, listen to the manner in
which He speaks of these by Amos, one of the twelve, saying: `Woe unto you
that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is this day of the Lord for
you? It is darkness and not light, as when a man flees from the face of a
lion, and a bear meets him; and he goes into his house, and leans his
hands against the wall, and the serpent bites him. Shall not the day of
the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark, and no brightness in
it? I have hated, I have despised your feast-days, and I will not smell in
your solemn assemblies: wherefore, though ye offer Me your burnt-offerings
and sacrifices, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the
peace-offerings of your presence. Take thou away from Me the multitude of
thy songs and psalms; I will not hear thine instruments. But let judgment
be rolled down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent. Have
ye offered unto Me victims and sacrifices in the wilderness, O house of
Israel? saith the Lord. And have ye taken up the tabernacle of Moloch, and
the star of your god Raphan, the figures which ye made for yourselves? And
I will carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is the
Almighty God. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the
mountain of Samaria: those who are named among the chiefs have plucked
away the first-fruits of the nations: the house of Israel have entered for
themselves. Pass all of you unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye
unto Hamath the great, and go down thence to Gath of the strangers, the
noblest of all these kingdoms, if their boundaries are greater than your
boundaries. Ye who come to the evil day, who are approaching, and who hold
to false Sabbaths; who lie on beds of ivory, and are at ease upon their
couches; who eat the lambs out of the flock, and the sucking calves out of
the midst of the herd; who applaud at the sound of the musical
instruments; they reckon them as stable, and not as fleeting, who drink
wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they
are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Wherefore now they shall be
captives, among the first of the nobles who are carried away; and the
house of evil-doers shall be removed, and the neighing of horses shall be
taken away from Ephraim.' And again by Jeremiah: `Collect your flesh, and
sacrifices, and eat: for concerning neither sacrifices nor libations did I
command your fathers in the day in which I took them by the hand to lead
them out of Egypt.' And again by David, in the forty-ninth Psalm, He thus
said: `The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth, from
the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion is the
perfection of His beauty. God, even our God, shall come openly, and shall
not keep silence. Fire shall burn before Him, and it shall be very
temptestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens above, and to
the earth, that He may judge His people. Assemble to Him His saints; those
that have made a covenant with Him by sacrifices. And the heavens shall
declare His righteousness, for God is judge. Hear, O My people, and I will
speak to thee; O Israel, and I will testify to thee, I am God, even thy
God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; thy burnt-offerings are
continually before me. I will take no bullocks out of thy house, nor
he-goats out of thy folds: for all the beasts of the field are Mine, the
herds and the oxen on the mountains. I know all the fowls of the heavens,
and the beauty of the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell
thee; for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh
of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God the sacrifice of
praise, and pay thy vows unto the Most High, and call upon Me in the day
of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. But unto
the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, and to
take My covenant into thy mouth? But thou hast hated instruction, and cast
My words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him;
and hast been partaker with the adulterer. Thy mouth has framed evil, and
thy tongue has enfolded deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy
brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou
done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I would be like thyself in
wickedness. I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before thine
eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest He tear you in pieces,
and there be none to deliver. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me;
and there is the way in which I shall show him My salvation.' Accordingly
He neither takes sacrifices from you nor commanded them at first to be
offered because they are needful to Him, but because of your sins. For
indeed the temple, which is called the temple in Jerusalem, He admitted to
be His house or court, not as though He needed it, but in order that you,
in this view of it, giving yourselves to Him, might not worship idols. And
that this is so, Isaiah says: `What house have ye built Me? saith the
Lord. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.'
Chapter 23.
The Opinion of the Jews Regarding the
Law Does an Injury to God.
"But if we do not admit this, we shall be liable to fall into foolish
opinions, as if it were not the same God who existed in the times of Enoch
and all the rest, who neither were circumcised after the flesh, nor
observed Sabbaths, nor any other rites, seeing that Moses enjoined such
observances; or that God has not wished each race of mankind continually
to perform the same righteous actions: to admit which, seems to be
ridiculous and absurd. Therefore we must confess that He, who is ever the
same, has commanded these and such like institutions on account of sinful
men, and we must declare Him to be benevolent, foreknowing, needing
nothing, righteous and good. But if this be not so, tell me, sir, what you
think of those matters which we are investigating." And when no one
responded: "Wherefore, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to those who
wish to become proselytes, the divine message which I heard from that man.
Do you see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths? Remain as
you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or
of the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses; no
more need is there of them now, after that, according to the will of God,
Jesus Christ the Son of God has been born without sin, of a virgin sprung
from the stock of Abraham. For when Abraham himself was in uncircumcision,
he was justified and blessed by reason of the faith which he reposed in
God, as the Scripture tells. Moreover, the Scriptures and the facts
themselves compel us to admit that He received circumcision for a sign,
and not for righteousness. So that it was justly recorded concerning the
people, that the soul which shall not be circumcised on the eighth day
shall be cut off from his family. And, furthermore, the inability of the
female sex to receive fleshly circumcision, proves that this circumcision
has been given for a sign, and not for a work of righteousness. For God
has given likewise to women the ability to observe all things which are
righteous and virtuous; but we see that the bodily form of the male has
been made different from the bodily form of the female; yet we know that
neither of them is righteous or unrighteous merely for this cause, but [is
considered righteous] by reason of piety and righteousness.
Chapter 24.
The Christians' Circumcision Far More
Excellent.
"Now, sirs," I said, "it is possible for us to show how the eighth day
possessed a certain mysterious import, which the seventh day did not
possess, and which was promulgated by God through these rites. But lest I
appear now to diverge to other subjects, understand what I say: the blood
of that circumcision is obsolete, and we trust in the blood of salvation;
there is now another covenant, and another law has gone forth from Zion.
Jesus Christ circumcises all who will-as was declared above-with knives of
stone; that they may be a righteous nation, a people keeping faith,
holding to the truth, and maintaining peace. Come then with me, all who
fear God, who wish to see the good of Jerusalem. Come, let us go to the
light of the Lord; for He has liberated His people, the house of Jacob.
Come, all nations; let us gather ourselves together at Jerusalem, no
longer plagued by war for the sins of her people. `For I was manifest to
them that sought Me not; I was found of them that asked not for Me; ' He
exclaims by Isaiah: `I said, Behold Me, unto nations which were not called
by My name. I have spread out My hands all the day unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people, which walked in a way that was not good, but after
their own sins. It is a people that provoketh Me to my face.'
Chapter 25.
The Jews Boast in Vain that They are Sons
of Abraham.
"Those who justify themselves, and say they are sons of Abraham, shall
be desirous even in a small degree to receive the inheritance along with
you; as the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of Isaiah, cries, speaking thus
while he personates them: `Return from heaven, and behold from the
habitation of Thy holiness and glory. Where is Thy zeal and strength?
Where is the multitude of Thy mercy? for Thou hast sustained us, O Lord.
For Thou art our Father, because Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel has
not recognised us. But Thou, O Lord, our Father, deliver us: from the
beginning Thy name is upon us. O Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from
Thy way? and hardened our hearts, so that we do not fear Thee? Return for
Thy servants' sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance, that we may inherit
for a little Thy holy mountain. We were as from the beginning, when Thou
didst not bear rule over us, and when Thy name was not called upon us. If
Thou wilt open the heavens, trembling shall seize the mountains before
Thee: and they shall be melted, as wax melts before the fire; and fire
shall consume the adversaries, and Thy name shall be manifest among the
adversaries; the nations shall be put into disorder before Thy face. When
Thou shall do glorious things, trembling shall seize the mountains before
Thee. From the beginning we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God
besides Thee: and Thy works, the mercy which Thou shall show to those who
repent. He shall meet those who do righteousness, and they shall remember
Thy ways. Behold, Thou art wroth, and we were sinning. Therefore we have
erred and become all unclean, and all our righteousness is as the rags of
a woman set apart: and we have faded away like leaves by reason of our
iniquities; thus the wind will take us away. And there is none that
calleth upon Thy name, or remembers to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast
turned away Thy face from us, and hast given us up on account of our sins.
And now return, O Lord, for we are all Thy people. The city of Thy
holiness has become desolate. Zion has become as a wilderness, Jerusalem a
curse; the house, our holiness, and the glory which our fathers blessed,
has been burned with fire; and all the glorious nations have fallen along
with it. And in addition to these [misfortunes], O Lord, Thou hast
refrained Thyself, and art silent, and hast humbled us very much.'"
And Trypho remarked, "What is this you say? that none of us shall
inherit anything on the holy mountain of God? "
Chapter 26.
No Salvation to the Jews Except Through
Christ.
And I replied, "I do not say so; but those who have persecuted and do
persecute Christ, if they do not repent, shall not inherit anything on the
holy mountain. But the Gentiles, who have believed on Him, and have
repented of the sins which they have committed, they shall receive the
inheritance along with the patriarchs and the prophets, and the just men
who are descended from Jacob, even although they neither keep the Sabbath,
nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts. Assuredly they shall receive
the holy inheritance of God. For God speaks by Isaiah thus: `I, the Lord
God, have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will
strengthen Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, for a
light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out them
that are bound from the chains, and those who sit in darkness from the
prison-house.' And again: `Lift up a standard for the people; for, lo, the
Lord has made it heard unto the end of the earth. Say ye to the daughters
of Zion, Behold, thy Saviour has come; having His reward, and His work
before His face: and He shall call it a holy nation, redeemed by the Lord.
And thou shalt be called a city sought out, and not forsaken. Who is this
that cometh from Edom? in red garments from Bosor? This that is beautiful
in apparel, going up with great strength? I speak righteousness, and the
judgment of salvation. Why are Thy garments red, and Thine apparel as from
the trodden wine-press? Thou art full of the trodden grape. I have trodden
the wine-press all alone, and of the people there is no man with Me; and I
have trampled them in fury, and crushed them to the ground, and spilled
their blood on the earth. For the day of retribution has come upon them,
and the year of redemption is present. And I looked, and there was none to
help; and I considered, and none assisted: and My arm delivered; and My
fury came on them, and I trampled them in My fury, and spilled their blood
on the earth.'"
Chapter 27.
Why God Taught the Same Things by the
Prophets as by Moses.
And Trypho said, "Why do you select and quote whatever you wish from
the prophetic writings, but do not refer to those which expressly command
the Sabbath to be observed? For Isaiah thus speaks: `If thou shalt turn
away thy foot from the Sabbaths, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy
day, and shalt call the Sabbaths the holy delights of thy God; if thou
shalt not lift thy foot to work, and shalt not speak a word from thine own
mouth; then thou shalt trust in the Lord, and He shall cause thee to go up
to the good things of the land; and He shall feed thee with the
inheritance of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it.'"
And I replied, "I have passed them by, my friends, not because such
prophecies were contrary to me, but because you have understood, and do
understand, that although God commands you by all the prophets to do the
same things which He also commanded by Moses, it was on account of the
hardness of your hearts, and your ingratitude towards Him, that He
continually proclaims them, in order that, even in this way, if you
repented, you might please Him, and neither sacrifice your children to
demons, nor be partakers with thieves, nor lovers of gifts, nor hunters
after revenge, nor fail in doing judgment for orphans, nor be inattentive
to the justice due to the widow nor have your hands full of blood. `For
the daughters of Zion have walked with a high neck, both sporting by
winking with their eyes, and sweeping along their dresses. For they are
all gone aside, 'He exclaims, `they are all become useless. There is none
that understands, there is not so much as one. With their tongues they
have practised deceit, their throat is an open sepulchre, the poison of
asps is under their lips, destruction and misery are in their paths, and
the way of peace they have not known.' So that, as in the beginning, these
things were enjoined you because of your wickedness, in like manner
because of your stedfastness in it, or rather your increased proneness to
it, by means of the same precepts He calls you to a remembrance or
knowledge of it. But you are a people hard-hearted and without
understanding, both blind and lame, children in whom is no faith, as He
Himself says, honouring Him only with your lips, far from Him in your
hearts, teaching doctrines that are your own and not His. For, tell me,
did God wish the priests to sin when they offer the sacrifices on the
Sabbaths? or those to sin, who are circumcised and do circumcise on the
Sabbaths; since He commands that on the eighth day-even though it happen
to be a Sabbath-those who are born shall be always circumcised? or could
not the infants be operated upon one day previous or one day subsequent to
the Sabbath, if He knew that it is a sinful act upon the Sabbaths? Or why
did He not teach those-who are called righteous and pleasing to Him, who
lived before Moses and Abraham, who were not circumcised in their
foreskin, and observed no Sabbaths-to keep these institutions? "
Chapter 28.
True Righteousness is Obtained by
Christ.
And Trypho replied, "We heard you adducing this consideration a little
ago, and we have given it attention: for, to tell the truth, it is worthy
of attention; and that answer which pleases most-namely, that so it seemed
good to Him-does not satisfy me. For this is ever the shift to which those
have recourse who are unable to answer the question."
Then I said, "Since I bring from the Scriptures and the facts
themselves both the proofs and the inculcation of them, do not delay or
hesitate to put faith in me, although I am an uncircumcised man; so short
a time is left you in which to become proselytes. If Christ's coming shall
have anticipated you, in vain you will repent, in vain you will weep; for
He will not hear yon. `Break up your fallow ground, 'Jeremiah has cried to
the people, `and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
and circumcise the foreskin of your heart.' Do not sow, therefore, among
thorns, and in untilled ground, whence you can have no fruit. Know Christ;
and behold the fallow ground, good, good and fat, is in your hearts. `For,
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will visit all them that are
circumcised in their foreskins; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons
of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of
Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.' Do you see how that God does
not mean this circumcision which is given for a sign? For it is of no use
to the Egyptians, or the sons of Moab, or the sons of Edom. But though a
man be a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His
Christ, and keeps the everlasting righteous decrees, he is circumcised
with the good and useful circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God
rejoices in his gifts and offerings. But I will lay before you, my
friends, the very words of God, when He said to the people by Malachi, one
of the twelve prophets, `I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord; and I
shall not accept your sacrifices at your hands: for from the rising of the
sun unto its setting My name shall be glorified among the Gentiles; and in
every place a sacrifice is offered unto My name, even a pure sacrifice:
for My name is honoured among the Gentiles, saith the Lord; but ye profane
it.' And by David He said, `A people whom I have not known, served Me; at
the hearing of the ear they obeyed Me.'
Chapter 29.
Christ is Useless to Those Who Observe
the Law.
"Let us glorify God, all nations gathered together; for He has also
visited us. Let us glorify Him by the King of glory, by the Lord of hosts.
For He has been gracious towards the Gentiles also; and our sacrifices He
esteems more grateful than yours. What need, then, have I of circumcision,
who have been witnessed to by God? What need have I of that other baptism,
who have been baptized with the Holy Ghost? I think that while I mention
this, I would persuade even those who are possessed of scanty
intelligence. For these words have neither been prepared by me, nor
embellished by the art of man; but David sung them, Isaiah preached them,
Zechariah proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them. Are you acquainted with
them, Trypho? They are contained in your Scriptures, or rather not yours,
but ours. For we believe them; but you, though you read them, do not catch
the spirit that is in them. Be not offended at, or reproach us with, the
bodily uncircumcision with which God has created us; and think it not
strange that we drink hot water on the Sabbaths, since God directs the
government of the universe on this day equally as on all others; and the
priests, as on other days, so on this, are ordered to offer sacrifices;
and there are so many righteous men who have performed none of these legal
ceremonies, and yet are witnessed to by God Himself.
Chapter 30.
Christians Possess the True
Righteousness.
"But impute it to your own wickedness, that God even can be accused by
those who have no understanding, of not having always instructed all in
the same righteous statutes. For such institutions seemed to be
unreasonable and unworthy of God to many men, who had not received grace
to know that your nation were called to conversion and repentance of
spirit, while they were in a sinful condition and labouring under
spiritual disease; and that the prophecy which was announced subsequent to
the death of Moses is everlasting. And this is mentioned in the Psalm, my
friends. And that we, who have been made wise by them, confess that the
statutes of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, is
manifest from the fact that, though threatened with death, we do not deny
His name. Moreover, it is also manifest to all, that we who believe in Him
pray to be kept by Him from strange, i.e., from wicked and deceitful,
spirits; as the word of prophecy, personating one of those who believe in
Him, figuratively declares. For we do continually beseech God by Jesus
Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of
God, and whom we of old time served, in order that, after our conversion
by Him to God, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer,
the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when
they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius
Pilate, governor of Judaea, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to
all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which
demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His
suffering.
Chapter 31.
If Christ's Power Be Now So Great, How
Much Greater at the Second Advent!
"But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still
following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which
shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the
Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him. These
are the words: `I beheld till the thrones were set; and the Ancient of
days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head
like the pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame, His wheels as
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him.
Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before Him. The books were opened, and the judgment was
set. I beheld then the voice of the great words which the horn speaks: and
the beast was beat down, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning
flame. And the rest of the beasts were taken away from their dominion, and
a period of life was given to the beasts until a season and time. I saw in
the vision of the night, and, behold, one like the Son of man coming with
the clouds of heaven; and He came to the Ancient of days, and stood before
Him. And they who stood by brought Him near; and there were given Him
power and kingly honour, and all nations of the earth by their families,
and all glory, serve Him. And His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not be taken away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. And
my spirit was chilled within my frame, and the visions of my head troubled
me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and inquired the precise
meaning of all these things. In answer he speaks to me, and showed me the
judgment of the matters: These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall
perish from the earth, and shall not receive dominion for ever, even for
ever and ever. Then I wished to know exactly about the fourth beast, which
destroyed all [the others] and was very terrible, its teeth of iron, and
its nails of brass; which devoured, made waste, and stamped the residue
with its feet: also about the ten horns upon its head, and of the one
which came up, by means of which three of the former fell. And that horn
had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things; and its countenance excelled
the rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and
prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave
judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the
saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me
concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns
are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them; and he
shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings,
and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the
rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the
seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a
time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall
take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the
kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the
heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an
everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall
obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with
a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the
matter in my heart.'"
Chapter 32.
Trypho Objecting that Christ is
Described as Glorious by Daniel, Justin Distinguishes Two
Advents.
And when I had ceased, Trypho said, "These and such like Scriptures,
sir, compel us to wait for Him who, as Son of man, receives from the
Ancient of days the everlasting kingdom. But this so-called Christ of
yours was dishonourable and inglorious, so much so that the last curse
contained in the law of God fell on him, for he was crucified."
Then I replied to him, "If, sirs, it were not said by the Scriptures
which I have already quoted, that His form was inglorious, and His
generation not declared, and that for His death the rich would suffer
death, and with His stripes we should be healed, and that He would be led
away like a sheep; and if I had not explained that there would be two
advents of His,-one in which He was pierced by you; a second, when you
shall know Him whom you have pierced, and your tribes shall mourn, each
tribe by itself, the women apart, and the men apart,-then I must have been
speaking dubious and obscure things. But now, by means of the contents of
those Scriptures esteemed holy and prophetic amongst you, I attempt to
prove all [that I have adduced], in the hope that some one of you may be
found to be of that remnant which has been left by the grace of the Lord
of Sabaoth for the eternal salvation. In order, therefore, that the matter
inquired into may be plainer to you, I will mention to you other words
also spoken by the blessed David, from which you will perceive that the
Lord is called the Christ by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; and that the
Lord, the Father of all, has brought Him again from the earth, setting Him
at His own right hand, until He makes His enemies His footstool; which
indeed happens from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to
heaven, after He rose again from the dead, the times now running on to
their consummation; and he whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a
time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak
blasphemous and daring things against the Most High. But you, being
ignorant of how long he will have dominion, hold another opinion. For you
interpret the `time' as being a hundred years. But if this is so, the man
of sin must, at the shortest, reign three hundred and fifty years, in
order that we may compute that which is said by the holy Daniel-`and
times'-to be two times only. All this I have said to you in
digression, in order that you at length may be persuaded of what has been
declared against you by God, that you are foolish sons; and of this,
`Therefore, behold, I will proceed to take away this people, and shall
take them away; and I will strip the wise of their wisdom, and will hide
the understanding of their prudent men; ' and may cease to deceive
yourselves and those who hear you, and may learn of us, who have been
taught wisdom by the grace of Christ. The words, then, which were spoken
by David, are these: `The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right
hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send the
rod of Thy strength out of Sion: rule Thou also in the midst of Thine
enemies. With Thee shall be, in the day, the chief of Thy power, in the
beauties of Thy saints. From the womb, before the morning star, have I
begotten Thee. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at Thy right hand: He
has crushed kings in the day of His wrath: He shall judge among the
heathen, He shall fill [with] the dead bodies.
He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up the
head.'
Chapter 33.
Is Not Spoken of Hezekiah. He
Proves that Christ Was First Humble, Then Shall Be
Glorious.
"And," I continued, "I am not ignorant that you venture to expound this
psalm as if it referred to king Hezekiah; but that you are mistaken, I
shall prove to you from these very words forthwith. `The Lord hath sworn,
and will not repent, 'it is said; and, `Thou art a priest forever, after
the order of Melchizedek, 'with what follows and precedes. Not even you
will venture to object that Hezekiah was either a priest, or is the
everlasting priest of God; but that this is spoken of our Jesus, these
expressions show. But your ears are shut up, and your hearts are made
dull. For by this statement, `The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent:
Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek, 'with an oath
God has shown Him (on account of your unbelief) to be the High Priest
after the order of Melchizedek; i.e., as Melchizedek was described by
Moses as the priest of the Most High, and he was a priest of those who
were in uncircumcision, and blessed the circumcised Abraham who brought
him tithes, so God has shown that His everlasting Priest, called also by
the Holy Spirit Lord, would be Priest of those in uncircumcision. Those
too in circumcision who approach Him, that is, believing Him and seeking
blessings from Him, He will both receive and bless. And that He shall be
first humble as a man, and then exalted, these words at the end of the
Psalm show: `He shall drink of the brook in the way, 'and then, `Therefore
shall He lift up the head.'
Chapter 34.
Apply to Solomon,
Whose Faults Christians Shudder at.
"Further, to persuade you that you have not understood anything of the
Scriptures, I will remind you of another psalm, dictated to David by the
Holy Spirit, which you say refers to Solomon, who was also your king. But
it refers also to our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by the ambiguous
forms of speech. For where it is said, `The law of the Lord is perfect,
'you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of
the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would
establish a new law and a new covenant. And where it has been said, `O
God, give Thy judgment to the king, 'since Solomon was king, you say that
the Psalm refers to him, although the words of the Psalm expressly
proclaim that reference is made to the everlasting King, i.e., to Christ.
For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and
captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering,
then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached
as having the everlasting kingdom: so I prove from all the Scriptures. But
that you may perceive what I have said, I quote the words of the Psalm;
they are these: `O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy
righteousness unto the king's son, to judge Thy people with righteousness,
and Thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall take up peace to the
people, and the little hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the
people, and shall save the children of the needy, and shall abase the
slanderer. He shall co-endure with the sun, and before the moon unto all
generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, as drops
falling on the earth. In His days shall righteousness flourish, and
abundance of peace until the moon be taken away. And He shall have
dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth.
Ethiopians shall fall down before Him, and His enemies shall lick the
dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall offer gifts; the kings of
Arabia and Seba shall offer gifts; and all the kings of the earth shall
worship Him, and all the nations shall serve Him: for He has delivered the
poor from the man of power, and the needy that hath no helper. He shall
spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy: He shall
redeem their souls from usury and injustice, and His name shall be
honourable before them. And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of
the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray continually for Him: they shall
bless Him all the day. And there shall be a foundation on the earth, it
shall be exalted on the tops of the mountains: His fruit shall be on
Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His
name shall be blessed for ever. His name shall endure before the sun; and
all tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him, all nations shall call
Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who only doeth
wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious name for ever, and for ever
and ever; and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, amen.'
And at the close of this Psalm which I have quoted, it is written, `The
hymns of David the son of Jesse are ended.' Moreover, that Solomon was a
renowned and great king, by whom the temple called that at Jerusalem was
built, I know; but that none of those things mentioned in the Psalm
happened to him, is evident. For neither did all kings worship him; nor
did he reign to the ends of the earth; nor did his enemies, falling before
him, lick the dust. Nay, also, I venture to repeat what is written in the
book of Kings as committed by him, how through a woman's influence he
worshipped the idols of Sidon, which those of the Gentiles who know God,
the Maker of all things through Jesus the crucified, do not venture to do,
but abide every torture and vengeance even to the extremity of death,
rather than worship idols, or eat meat offered to idols."
Chapter 35.
Heretics Confirm the Catholics in the
Faith.
And Trypho said, "I believe, however, that many of those who say that
they confess Jesus, and are called Christians, eat meats offered to idols,
and declare that they are by no means injured in consequence." And I
replied, "The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be
Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ,
yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes
us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be
more faithful and stedfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things
He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually
accomplished in our sight. For he said, `Many shall come in My name,
clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves.'" And, `There shall be schisms and heresies.' And, `Beware of
false prophets, who shall come to you clothed outwardly in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.' And, `Many false Christs
and false apostles shall arise, and shall deceive many of the faithful.'
There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward
in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous
things; and these are called by us after the name of the men from whom
each doctrine and opinion had its origin. (For some in one way, others in
another, teach to blaspheme the Maker of all things, and Christ, who was
foretold by Him as coming, and the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of
Jacob, with whom we have nothing in common, since we know them to be
atheists, impious, unrighteous, and sinful, and confessors of Jesus in
name only, instead of worshippers of Him. Yet they style themselves
Christians, just as certain among the Gentiles inscribe the name of God
upon the works of their own hands, and partake in nefarious and impious
rites.) Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some
Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called
after the originator of the individual opinion, just as each one of those
who consider themselves philosophers, as I said before, thinks he must
bear the name of the philosophy which he follows, from the name of the
father of the particular doctrine. So that, in consequence of these
events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him, as well
as in consequence of many other events which He foretold would befall
those who believed on and confessed Him, the Christ. For all that we
suffer, even when killed by friends, He foretold would take place; so that
it is manifest no word or act of His can be found fault with. Wherefore we
pray for you and for all other men who hate us; in order that you, having
repented along with us, may not blaspheme Him who, by His works, by the
mighty deeds even now wrought through His name, by the words He taught, by
the prophecies announced concerning Him, is the blameless, and in all
things irreproachable, Christ Jesus; but, believing on Him, may be saved
in His second glorious advent, and may not be condemned to fire by
Him."
Chapter 36.
He Proves that Christ is Called Lord of
Hosts.
Then he replied, "Let these things be so as you say-namely, that it was
foretold Christ would suffer, and be called a stone; and after His first
appearance, in which it had been announced He would suffer, would come in
glory, and be Judge finally of all, and eternal King and Priest. Now show
if this man be He of whom these prophecies were made."
And I said, "As you wish, Trypho, I shall come to these proofs which
you seek in the fitting place; but now you will permit me first to recount
the prophecies, which I wish to do in order to prove that Christ is called
both God and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit; and
your interpreters, as God says, are foolish, since they say that reference
is made to Solomon and not to Christ, when he bore the ark of testimony
into the temple which he built. The Psalm of David is this: `The earth is
the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all that dwell
therein. He hath rounded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the
floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in
His holy place? He that is clean of hands and pure of heart: who has not
received his soul in vain, and has not sworn guilefully to his neighbour:
he shall receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.
This is the generation of them that seek the Lord, that seek the face of
the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, ye rulers; and be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, ye
rulers; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the
King of glory.' Accordingly, it is shown that Solomon is not the Lord of
hosts; but when our Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the
rulers in heaven, under appointment of God, are commanded to open the
gates of heaven, that He who is King of glory may enter in, and having
ascended, may sit on the right hand of the Father until He make the
enemies His footstool, as has been made manifest by another Psalm. For
when the rulers of heaven saw Him of uncomely and dishonoured appearance,
and inglorious, not recognising Him, they inquired, `Who is this King of
glory? 'And the Holy Spirit, either from the person of His Father, or from
His own person, answers them, `The Lord of hosts, He is this King of
glory.' For every one will confess that not one of those who presided over
the gates of the temple at Jerusalem would venture to say concerning
Solomon, though he was so glorious a king, or concerning the ark of
testimony, `Who is this King of glory? '
Chapter 37.
The Same is Proved from Other
Psalms.
"Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus
made to Christ: `God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing ye to our God, sing ye: sing to our King, sing ye; for God
is King of all the earth: sing with understanding. God has ruled over the
nations. God sits upon His holy throne. The rulers of the nations were
assembled along with the God of Abraham, for the strong ones of God are
greatly exalted on the earth.' And in the ninety-eighth Psalm, the Holy
Spirit reproaches you, and predicts Him whom you do not wish to be king to
be King and Lord, both of Samuel, and of Aaron, and of Moses, and, in
short, of all the others. And the words of the Psalm are these: `The Lord
has reigned, let the nations be angry: [it is] He who sits upon the
cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is
high above all the nations. Let them confess Thy great name, for it is
fearful and holy, and the honour of the King loves judgment. Thou hast
prepared equity; judgment and righteousness hast Thou performed in Jacob.
Exalt the Lord our God, and worship 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) on the Lord, and He heard
them. In the pillar of the cloud He spake to them; for they kept His
testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. O Lord our God, Thou
heardest them: O God, Thou wert propitious to them, and [yet] taking
vengeance on all their inventions. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at
His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.'"
Chapter 38.
It is an Annoyance to the Jew that
Christ is Said to Be Adored. Justin Confirms It, However, from Ps.
XLV.
And Trypho said, "Sir, it were good for us if we obeyed our teachers,
who laid down a law that we should have no intercourse with any of you,
and that we should not have even any communication with you on these
questions. For you utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us
that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the
pillar of the cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, and ascended
up to heaven, and comes again to earth, and ought to be worshipped."
Then I answered, "I know that, as the word of God says, this great
wisdom of God, the Maker of all things, and the Almighty, is hid from you.
Wherefore, in sympathy with you, I am striving to the utmost that you may
understand these matters which to you are paradoxical; but if not, that I
myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear other
words which appear still more paradoxical; but be not confounded, nay,
rather remain still more zealous hearers and investigators, despising the
tradition of your teachers, since they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of
inability to perceive the truths taught by God, and of preferring to teach
their own doctrines. Accordingly, in the forty-fourth [forty-fifth] Psalm,
these words are in like manner referred to Christ: `My heart has brought
forth a good matter; I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of
a ready writer. Fairer in beauty than the sons of men: grace is poured
forth into Thy lips: therefore hath God blessed Thee for ever. Gird Thy
sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty One. Press on in Thy fairness and in Thy
beauty, and prosper and reign, because of truth, and of meekness, and of
righteousness: and Thy right hand shall instruct Thee marvellously. Thine
arrows are sharpened, O mighty One; the people shall fall under Thee; in
the heart of the enemies of the King [the arrows are fixed]. Thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy
kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hast hated iniquity; therefore
thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. [He
hath anointed Thee] with myrrh, and oil, and cassia, from Thy garments;
from the ivory palaces, whereby they made Thee glad. Kings' daughters are
in Thy honour. The queen stood at Thy right hand, clad in garments
embroidered with gold. Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine
ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father: and the King shall
desire thy beauty; because He is thy Lord, they shall worship Him also.
And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with gifts. The rich of the
people shall entreat Thy face. All the glory of the King's daughter [is]
within, clad in embroidered garments of needlework. The virgins that
follow her shall be brought to the King; her neighbours shall be brought
unto Thee: they shall be brought with joy and gladness: they shall be led
into the King's shrine. Instead of thy fathers, thy sons have been born:
Thou shalt appoint them rulers over all the earth. I shall remember Thy
name in every generation: therefore the people shall confess Thee for
ever, and for ever and ever.'
Chapter 39.
The Jews Hate the Christians Who Believe
This. How Great the Distinction is Between Both!
"Now it is not surprising," I continued, "that you hate us who hold
these opinions, and convict you of a continual hardness of heart. For
indeed Elijah, conversing with God concerning you, speaks thus: `Lord,
they have slain Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars: and I am left
alone, and they seek my life.' And He answers him: `I have still seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' Therefore, just as God
did not inflict His anger on account of those seven thousand men, even so
He has now neither yet inflicted judgment, nor does inflict it, knowing
that daily some [of you] are becoming disciples in the name of Christ, and
quitting the path of error; who are also receiving gifts, each as he is
worthy, illumined through the name of this Christ. For one receives the
spirit of understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another
of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of
the fear of God."
To this Trypho said to me, "I wish you knew that you are beside
yourself, talking these sentiments."
And I said to him, "Listen, O friend, for I am not mad or beside
myself; but it was prophesied that, after the ascent of Christ to heaven,
He would deliver us from error and give us gifts. The words are these: `He
ascended up on high; He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men.'
Accordingly, we who have received gifts from Christ, who has ascended up
on high, prove from the words of prophecy that you, `the wise in
yourselves, and the men of understanding in your own eyes, ' are foolish,
and honour God and His Christ by lip only. But we, who are instructed in
the whole truth, honour Them both in acts, and in knowledge, and in heart,
even unto death. But you hesitate to confess that He is Christ, as the
Scriptures and the events witnessed and done in His name prove, perhaps
for this reason, lest you be persecuted by the rulers, who, under the
influence of the wicked and deceitful spirit, the serpent, will not cease
putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ
until He come again, and destroy them all, and render to each his
deserts."
And Trypho replied, "Now, then, render us the proof that this man who
you say was crucified and ascended into heaven is the Christ of God. For
you have sufficiently proved by means of the Scriptures previously quoted
by you, that it is declared in the Scriptures that Christ must suffer, and
come again with glory, and receive the eternal kingdom over all the
nations, every kingdom being made subject to Him: now show us that this
man is He."
And I replied, "It has been already proved, sirs, to those who have
ears, even from the facts which have been conceded by you; but that you
may not think me at a loss, and unable to give proof of what you ask, as I
promised, I shall do so at a fitting place. At present, I resume the
consideration of the subject which I was discussing.
Chapter 40.
He Returns to the Mosaic Laws, and Proves
that They Were Figures of the Things Which Pertain to
Christ.
"The mystery, then, of the lamb which God enjoined to be sacrificed as
the passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, in proportion to
their faith in Him, they anoint their houses, i.e., themselves, who
believe on Him. For that the creation which God created-to wit, Adam-was a
house for the spirit which proceeded from God, you all can understand. And
that this injunction was temporary, I prove thus. God does not permit the
lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His
name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of
Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your
enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; and that lamb which
was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the
cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is
roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is
transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one
across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. And the two
goats which were ordered to be offered during the fast, of which one was
sent away as the scape [goat], and the other sacrificed, were similarly
declarative of the two appearances of Christ: the first, in which the
elders of your people, and the priests, having laid hands on Him and put
Him to death, sent Him away as the scape [goat]; and His second
appearance, because in the same place in Jerusalem you shall recognise Him
whom you have dishonoured, and who was an offering for all sinners willing
to repent, and keeping the fast which Isaiah speaks of, loosening the
terms of the violent contracts, and keeping the other precepts, likewise
enumerated by him, and which I have quoted, which those believing in Jesus
do. And further, you are aware that the offering of the two goats, which
were enjoined to be sacrificed at the fast, was not permitted to take
place similarly anywhere else, but only in Jerusalem.
Chapter 41.
The Oblation of Fine Flour Was a Figure of
the Eucharist.
"And the offering of fine flour, sirs," I said, "which was prescribed
to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy, was a type of
the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our Lord Jesus Christ
prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He endured on behalf of
those who are purified in soul from all iniquity, in order that we may at
the same time thank God for having created the world, with all things
therein, for the sake of man, and for delivering us from the evil in which
we were, and for utterly overthrowing principalities and powers by Him who
suffered according to His will. Hence God speaks by the mouth of Malachi,
one of the twelve [prophets], as I said before, about the sacrifices at
that time presented by you: `I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord;
and I will not accept your sacrifices at your hands: for, from the rising
of the sun unto the going down of the same, My name has been glorified
among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to My name, and
a pure offering: for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord:
but ye profane it.' [So] He then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us, who
in every place offer sacrifices to Him, i.e., the bread of the Eucharist,
and also the cup of the Eucharist, affirming both that we glorify His
name, and that you profane [it]. The command of circumcision, again,
bidding [them] always circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a
type of the true circumcision, by which we are circumcised from deceit and
iniquity through Him who rose from the dead on the first day after the
Sabbath, [namely through] our Lord Jesus Christ. For the first day after
the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the
eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet]
remains the first.
Chapter 42.
The Bells on the Priest's Robe Were a
Figure of the Apostles.
"Moreover, the prescription that twelve bells be attached to the [robe]
of the high priest, which hung down to the feet, was a symbol of the
twelve apostles, who depend on the power of Christ, the eternal Priest;
and through their voice it is that all the earth has been filled with the
glory and grace of God and of His Christ. Wherefore David also says:
`Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the
ends of the world.' And Isaiah speaks as if he were personating the
apostles, when they say to Christ that they believe not in their own
report, but in the power of Him who sent them. And so he says: `Lord, who
hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We
have preached before Him as if [He were] a child, as if a root in a dry
ground.' (And what follows in order of the prophecy already quoted. ) But
when the passage speaks as from the lips of many, `We have preached before
Him, 'and adds, `as if a child, 'it signifies that the wicked shall become
subject to Him, and shall obey His command, and that all shall become as
one child. Such a thing as you may witness in the body: although the
members are enumerated as many, all are called one, and are a
body. For, indeed, a commonwealth and a church, though many
individuals in number, are in fact as one, called and addressed by one
appellation. And in short, sirs," said I, "by enumerating all the other
appointments of Moses I can demonstrate that they were types, and symbols,
and declarations of those things which would happen to Christ, of those
who it was foreknown were to believe in Him, and of those things which
would also be done by Christ Himself. But since what I have now enumerated
appears to me to be sufficient, I revert again to the order of the
discourse.
Chapter 43.
He Concludes that the Law Had an End in
Christ, Who Was Born of the Virgin.
"As, then, circumcision began with Abraham, and the Sabbath and
sacrifices and offerings and feasts with Moses, and it has been proved
they were enjoined on account of the hardness of your people's heart, so
it was necessary, in accordance with the Father's will, that they should
have an end in Him who was born of a virgin, of the family of Abraham and
tribe of Judah, and of David; in Christ the Son of God, who was proclaimed
as about to come to all the world, to be the everlasting law and the
everlasting covenant, even as the forementioned prophecies show. And we,
who have approached God through Him, have received not carnal, but
spiritual circumcision, which Enoch and those like him observed. And we
have received it through baptism, since we were sinners, by God's mercy;
and all men may equally obtain it. But since the mystery of His birth now
demands our attention I shall speak of it. Isaiah then asserted in regard
to the generation of Christ, that it could not be declared by man, in
words already quoted: `Who shall declare His generation? for His life is
taken from the earth: for the transgressions of my people was He led to
death.' The Spirit of prophecy thus affirmed that the generation of Him
who was to die, that we sinful men might be healed by His stripes, was
such as could not be declared. Furthermore, that the men who believe in
Him may possess the knowledge of the manner in which He came into the
world, the Spirit of prophecy by the same Isaiah foretold how it would
happen thus: `And the Lord spoke again 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, neither will I tempt the Lord. And Isaiah said, Hear then,
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, and shall bear a son, and his
name shall be called Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, before he
knows or prefers the evil, and chooses out the good; for before the child
knows good or ill, he rejects evil by choosing out the good. For before
the child knows how to call father or mother, he shall receive the power
of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in presence of the king of Assyria.
And the land shall be forsaken, which thou shalt with difficulty endure in
consequence of the presence of its two kings. But God shall bring on thee,
and on thy people, and on the house of thy father, days which have not yet
come upon thee since the day in which Ephraim took away from Judah the
king of Assyria.' Now it is evident to all, that in the race of Abraham
according to the flesh no one has been born of a virgin, or is said to
have been born [of a virgin], save this our Christ. But since you and your
teachers venture to affirm that in the prophecy of Isaiah it is not said,
`Behold, the virgin shall conceive, 'but, `Behold, the young woman shall
conceive, and bear a son; 'and [since] you explain the prophecy as if [it
referred] to Hezekiah, who was your king, I shall endeavor to [discuss
shortly this point in opposition to you, and to show that reference is
made to Him who is acknowledged by us as Christ.
Chapter 44.
The Jews in Vain Promise Themselves
Salvation, Which Cannot Be Obtained Except Through
Christ.
"For thus, so far as you are concerned, I shall be found in all
respects innocent, if I strive earnestly to persuade you by bringing
forward demonstrations. But if you remain hard-hearted, or weak in
[forming] a resolution, on account of death, which is the lot of the
Christians, and are unwilling to assent to the truth, you shall appear as
the authors of your own [evils]. And you deceive yourselves while you
fancy that, because you are the seed of Abraham after the flesh, therefore
you shall fully inherit the good things announced to be bestowed by God
through Christ. For no one, not even of them, has anything to look for,
but only those who in mind are assimilated to the faith of Abraham, and
who have recognised all the mysteries: f |
