OF SAINT JUSTIN PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR, RESPONSES TO THE ORTHODOX CONCERNING CERTAIN

 a prediction having come to pass? Answer. All these things are of the same God, both the prediction of the words and the outcome of the deeds, who als

 is it unjust to subject to punishments those who have been led astray from the truth? Response. The heretics have so little sought the truth with all

 for example from joy we are not turned to sorrow, nor do we rejoice in the same good thing sometimes more, sometimes less, even if we rejoice more in

 That which is ours and that which is in our power differ from each other. We are male and female, but it is in our power to be chaste or fornicato

 But God does not exist because of the universe. Therefore God is greater than the universe, just as in substance, so also in worth. Question 12. *) If

 the destruction of that day. But if he was not heard, why must it not be said that being a sinner he was unheard? For God will do the will of those wh

 we sometimes think. The Son of the Father is therefore the Son of God according to essence. And to say Son of the Father is the same as to say Son of

 to abstain, and, if it is necessary to approach them, either having washed or having used some other such thing, so as not to be purified in a Jewish

 of it both growing and declining, it is clear that the account concerning it has been proven false but if from the beginning of the preaching until t

 did not need matter, but events followed and do follow his commands and prophecies. And the charms wrought by Apollonius, since they were made accordi

 their cattle also. From this water drawn from the wells the magicians made the blood, and in no way is the account falsified. And the miracles perform

 held the daughter of Jairus by the hand? For even if both were raised from the dead, yet the dead bodies received the touch. Response. The dead bodies

 the divine scripture says, but men sometimes endured increase, and sometimes decrease, as in the case of the flood and the other calamities, on accoun

 Response. But that the time of each one's life is not fixed is shown from the words of Scripture thus: If, it says, a man finds a betrothed young w

 except for the pig they were deifying, for this reason he named some animals clean, and others unclean and he permitted them to sacrifice the clean o

 another besides him? Response. Since different reports were circulating about the wonders Jesus performed, some saying, It is Elijah who is doing the

 chains, but the demon himself shattered and broke the bonds and the chains, even if the divine scripture attributed the works of the demon to the one

 ...praising the holy and co-honorable Trinity for the greatness of the divine gifts, in whose name they were baptized and justified, having received t

 takes from Jesus that which is honored by creation in obedience to the command, so also Ezekiel takes the name of the son of man and through the visio

 Question 48. Why did the Lord say to Mary after the resurrection: Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father? If, therefore, before the

 Question 51. If the divine is unchangeable, how, when blasphemed and praised, has it often rendered to both parties the rewards worthy of their respec

 Response. Although the generative parts are not useful for procreation after the resurrection, yet they are useful for the remembrance that it was thr

 51. How then do they not say things contrary to themselves, and yet in both respects they speak the truth? Response. Moses himself spoke of heavens, b

 of heaven and earth that the heaven and the earth stand, concerning the first heaven and the earth it is possible to conjecture this because they came

 How is the saying, We shall not all sleep, true according to him? Answer. God is said to be the only one who has immortality, because he does not ha

 to have died. But if in truth the Lord tasted of death, how is the example of Jonah not proven false? Response. He did not compare death with death, b

 offspring for of man, they say, is not a feminine but a masculine name. By what arguments then shall we refute such slander, spoken in vain? Respon

 why is it created and invisible? Response. Having the words of the creator of creation that distinguish soul from body, they ought not to demand more

 as productive of pride, while humility and gentleness are handed down by the divine scripture to those who have received these things, how are the gif

 by argument: The eye is beautiful and more honorable than the feet but if God is ungrudging, why did He not make the feet eyes? For this argument als

 it recovered it, how does it not now vainly expect the restoration of its ancient dominion? For what reason does Hellenism expect the restoration of i

 If the soul receives perception of perceptible things through the cooperation of the bodily senses, and both good and bad things happen to be percepti

 Scripture, having caused the people to fulfill, and he violently laid down his life by a Hellenic sword, but his children were led away captive to Bab

 he flogged the parents of the children, so that they might learn not to dishonor the prophets and, through them, God. Question 81. If all deception wa

 Response. None of those who sacrificed irrational animals as a sacrifice to God before the law sacrificed according to the divine ordinance, even if G

 of those who are rising, it is clear that all, both those who have risen and those who are about to rise, have risen perfect by the Lord for it is im

 by the Savior after the execution of John for they would not have said this, if they had heard the miracles performed by the Savior before the execut

 I have eaten anything common or unclean how through such words is it not shown that he forbids all the irrational animals as unclean, and blames the

 being ashamed at the stripping, yet having been stripped he was ashamed, having within himself the name and the concept of shame, so he had within him

 and that the extreme cold from them is sent downwards, from which, when mixed with the extreme heat of the sun, the good temperament of the airs is pr

 we ourselves needing them, on account of the lack of need of the body, as I said? Answer. If according to the apostle Paul, God is causing the fashion

 Response. For such offenses the law gives remission through baptism and sacrifice, for those that contribute nothing to the harm of society and human

 to happen, so that by these things men might show the honor concerning him, how, because they sacrifice men, are the Greeks shown to be more impious t

 of the vow. But God permitted her to be offered as a sacrifice, not as delighting in human blood, but for the instruction of future men never to vow i

 of a sophism but to the question itself we answer thus, that we too are not taught inconsistently, but as the apostles learned, first the things of t

 Having not done the things that are beyond his power, since they are impossible, he is not accountable. How then does God, by commanding things beyond

 The law was placed before grace, so that one is readier and more benevolent for the remission of sins for those who sin, whom he absolves from blame e

 If the flesh of all men has one substance and the soul one substance, how is one person slow, and another quicker in understanding? But if the soul is

 Paul calls this of the spirit, by which he arms the soldiers of piety against the invisible enemies for it is a word of God, which when remembered an

 ...failure dissolves the involuntary ignorance of the Jews concerning Christ? But the saying, You, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they

 having brought His own promise to completion through them? ries of the holy ancient men, nor of the Lord Christ

 sia, it does not have the form of an affirmation from those who asked in their ignorant supposition, but rather a questioning of both, of the supposit

 ...do those who pray? And whence did such a custom enter into the churches? Response. Since it was necessary for us always to remember both our fall i

 Response. Just as the Lord did not walk upon the sea by a transformation of the body into spirit, but by his divine power made the impassable sea pass

 to look to the creation, for this reason, looking to the one part of creation, we make our worship, not as the only work of God nor as a dwelling plac

 a resurrection of judgment. The resurrection, therefore, is divided into life and judgment, according to the differences between the just and the unju

 has been made wretched. Response. If the other things that were named exist for the sake of man, and things that exist for the sake of something are l

 to look to another life, in which the distinction between the just and the unjust occurs according to glory and dishonor. Question 125. If the apostle

 ty, with the master God making the provision and the removal of such things for the benefit of all men but the piety of the superior beings is judged

 and to be instructed through them, good therefore is their coming into being and irreproachable in respect to the inferiority of their nature and thei

 sence, without any division or distinction in this respect, just as the pi is one with the unity of the line without any division or distinction in th

 to name the progenitors of Christ, is he found naming more? But if in the genealogy they say things that are at war with themselves and with each othe

 of the one begotten from his own body. For just as the one begotten from such a union is named for the deceased, so also his wife is called wife. Ques

 word, to show whose the discourse is, as in 'The eunuch was sitting on the chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah,' and again, 'The abomination,'

 the care of the wine that had run out yet out of much love, if you wish, so that they will not lack wine, tell the servants to do what I tell them, a

 being foolish, how is God just, who killed so many people for the offenses of others? I mean the offenses of Jonathan and David: the one who out of ig

 Understand these things in the manner of the existence of the persons. Question 140. If Christ calls himself the heir, and according to the parable th

 to have begotten. Question 142. If the angel is superior to man, and scripture calls men gods, how is it not fitting for angels also to be called gods

 So that also in this God may separate us from the likeness of beasts, which, along with the eating of the flesh, also lap the blood of those whose fle

 their land from my hands, because the Lord will deliver Jerusalem from my hand? But according to the oracles which the Assyrian received from the soot

for example from joy we are not turned to sorrow, nor do we rejoice in the same good thing sometimes more, sometimes less, even if we rejoice more in a greater good, and less in a lesser good; but even so, according to the proportion of the goods, the quantity of joy remains unchangeable. And this is for those who are raised to life; but for those who are raised to judgment, the same reasoning applies, when they are freed from the judgment as from death; for indeed of those who are raised, some are raised to life, others to judgment. Question 7. If it is a sign of changeability to take the good and the base into one's mind, how are those who are punished unchangeable, while considering the repose of the righteous, or again, those who are in repose, while thinking of the punishment of sinners? For then each gives a greater sensation in the other, when the comparison of opposites occurs. Response. In the age to come, the quantity of the sensation of both honor and punishment lies in its measure, and it is not possible for the sensation to receive increase or decrease by the comparison of opposites. For all things there are unchangeable, just as in quality, so also in quantity. Question 8. If we have received from God the knowledge of good and evil, and being itself, how is He not the cause of both, who has implanted in our nature both the knowledge of them and the power for their fulfillment? Response. Not only has God given us the power to be and to know and to do good and evil, but He has also granted us free will and made us masters of choosing by preference what seems best among the things we know, and He has placed our being good or evil not in the knowledge of the things we know but in the choice of the things we choose. Therefore God is not the cause of our being good or evil, but our choice is. For just as one who sees a prostitute and knows her to be a prostitute is not a fornicator from that knowledge, and not even if the knowledge awakens the passion of desire is he thus a fornicator, but if the choice consents to the passion, then he is a fornicator either in act or in disposition, so also with good and evil men, it is not knowledge that is the cause of their being good or evil, but the choice that has preferred what seemed best. Question 9. If God has given the aforementioned things, but crowns and punishes each person according to their actions, how does he do both justly, when the person possesses each from him? Response.

οἷον ἐκ τῆς χαρᾶς οὐ τρεπόμεθα εἰς τὴν λύπην, οὔτε χαίρομεν ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ποτὲ μὲν μᾶλλον, ποτὲ δὲ ἧττον, κἂν ἐπὶ μείζονος ἀγαθοῦ μᾶλλον χαίρωμεν, ἐπὶ ἐλάττονος δὲ ἧτ τον· ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν μένει τὸ ποσὸν τῆς χαρᾶς ἄτρεπτον. Καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν εἰς ζωὴν ἀνισταμένων· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν εἰς κρίσιν ἀνισταμένων ὁ αὐτὸς λό γος, ὅταν ἀπαλλάττωνται ὥσπερ τοῦ θανάτου κρίσεως· καὶ γὰρ τῶν ἀνισταμένων οἱ μὲν εἰς ζωήν, οἱ δὲ εἰς κρίσιν ἀνί στανται. Ἐρώτησις ζ. Eἰ τροπῆς γνώρισμα τὸ τὰ καλὰ καὶ τὰ φαῦλα λαμβάνειν εἰς ἔννοιαν, πῶς ἄτρεπτοι οἱ κολαζόμενοι καὶ τὴν τῶν δικαίων λογιζόμενοι ἄνεσιν, ἢ πάλιν οἱ ἐν ἀνέσει τυγχάνοντες καὶ τὴν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐνθυμούμενοι κόλασιν; Τότε γὰρ ἑκάτερον ἐν θατέρῳ δίδωσι πλείονα τὴν αἴσθησιν, ὅτε τῶν ἐναντίων ἡ παράθεσις γίνεται. Ἀπόκρισις. Ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι τὸ ποσὸν τῆς αἰσθήσεως τιμῆς τε καὶ τιμωρίας ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ κεῖται, καὶ οὐκ ἐνδέχεται τῇ παρα θέσει τῶν ἀντικειμένων δέξασθαι τὴν αἴσθησιν τὴν αὔξησιν ἢ τὴν μείωσιν. Ἄτρεπτα γὰρ τὰ ἐκεῖ πάντα, ὥσπερ κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν οὕτως καὶ κατὰ τὸ ποσόν. Ἐρώτησις η. Eἰ τὴν γνῶσιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ εἶναι εἰλήφαμεν, πῶς οὐκ ἔστιν αἴτιος ἑκατέρου ὁ καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀμφοτέρων καὶ δύναμιν ἐγκαταβεβλημένος τῇ φύσει πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων ἐκπλήρωσιν; Ἀπόκρισις. Oὐ μόνον τοῦ εἶναι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῦ γινώσκειν τε καὶ πράτ τειν τὸ καλόν τε καὶ τὸ κακὸν δέδωκεν ἡμῖν τὴν δύναμιν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ αὐθαίρετον ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο καὶ τοῦ κατὰ προτίμησιν αἱρεῖσθαι τῶν γινωσκομένων τὸ δοκοῦν κατέστησεν ἡμᾶς κυρίους, καὶ τὸ ἀγαθοὺς ἡμᾶς εἶναι ἢ κακοὺς οὐκ ἐν τῇ γνώσει ἔθηκε τῶν γινωσκομένων ἀλλὰ ἐν τῇ αἱρέσει τῶν αἱ ρουμένων. Oὐκ ἄρα ὁ θεός ἐστιν αἴτιος τοῦ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἀγα θοὺς ἢ κακούς, ἀλλὰ ἡ προαίρεσις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ὁρῶν γυ ναῖκα πόρνην καὶ γινώσκων ταύτην εἶναι πόρνην οὐκ ἔστι πόρνος ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως, ἀλλ' οὔτε εἰ ἡ γνῶσις ἐξυπνίσει τὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας πάθος οὐδ' οὕτως πόρνος ἐστίν, ἐὰν δὲ συγ κατατίθηται τῷ πάθει ἡ προαίρεσις τότε ἐστὶ πόρνος ἢ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἢ κατὰ τὴν διάθεσιν, οὕτως καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐχ ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστιν αἰτία τοῦ ἀγαθοὺς αὐ τοὺς εἶναι ἢ κακούς, ἀλλ' ἡ προαίρεσις κατὰ προτίμησιν τὸ δοκοῦν αἱρησαμένη. Ἐρώτησις θ. Eἰ τὰ προλεχθέντα δέδωκεν ὁ θεός, στεφανοῖ δὲ καὶ κο λάζει πρὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἕκαστον, πῶς δικαίως ποιεῖται ἀμφότερα, ἑκάτερα παρ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔχοντος; Ἀπόκρισις.