Justin Martyr, On the Sole Government of God

Chapter III.—Testimonies to a future judgment.

Then further concerning Him, that He alone is powerful, both to institute judgment on the deeds performed in life, and on the ignorance of the Deity [displayed by men], I can adduce witnesses from your own ranks; and first Sophocles,6 [Langus compares 2 Pet. iii. 7.] who speaks as follows:—

“That time of times shall come, shall surely come,

When from the golden ether down shall fall

Fire’s teeming treasure, and in burning flames

All things of earth and heaven shall be consumed;

And then, when all creation is dissolved,

The sea’s last wave shall die upon the shore,

The bald earth stript of trees, the burning air

No winged thing upon its breast shall bear.

There are two roads to Hades, well we know;7 Some propose to insert these three lines in the centre of the next quotation from Philemon, after the line, “Nay, there’s an eye,” etc.

By this the righteous, and by that the bad,

On to their separate fates shall tend; and He,

Who all things had destroyed, shall all things save.”

And Philemon8 Some say Diphilus. again:—

“Think’st thou, Nicostratus, the dead, who here

Enjoyed whate’er of good life offers man,

Escape the notice of Divinity,

As if they might forgotten be of Him?

Nay, there’s an eye of Justice watching all;

For if the good and bad find the same end,

Then go thou, rob, steal, plunder, at thy will,

Do all the evil that to thee seems good.

Yet be not thou deceived; for underneath

There is a throne and place of judgment set,

Which God the Lord of all shall occupy;

Whose name is terrible, nor shall I dare

To breathe it forth in feeble human speech.”

And Euripides:9 Grotius joins these lines to the preceding. Clement of Alexandria assigns them, and the others, which are under the name of Euripides, to Diphilus. —

“Not grudgingly he gives a lease of life,

That we the holders may be fairly judged;

And if a mortal man doth think to hide

His daily guilt from the keen eye of God,

It is an evil thought; so if perchance

He meets with leisure-taking Justice, she

Demands him as her lawful prisoner:

But many of you hastily commit

A twofold sin, and say there is no God.

But, ah! there is; there is. Then see that he

Who, being wicked, prospers, may redeem

The time so precious, else hereafter waits

For him the due reward of punishment.”

Καὶ περὶ τοῦδε ὅτι μόνος δυνατός ἐστι καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ συντελουμένων πράξεων καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ἀγνωσίας κρίσιν ἐνστήσασθαι, οἰκείους μάρτυρας παραστῆσαι ἔχω: καὶ πρῶτόν γε Σοφοκλέα, καὶ περὶ τούτου λέγοντα: Ἔσται γάρ, ἔσται κεῖνος αἰώνων χρόνος, Ὅταν πυρὸς γέμοντα θησαυρὸν σχάσῃ Χρυσωπὸς αἰθήρ: ἡ δὲ βοσκηθεῖσα φλὸξ Ἅπαντα τἀπίγεια καὶ μετάρσια Φλέξει μανεῖς'. Ὅταν δὲ ἐκλίπῃ τὸ πᾶν, Φροῦδος μὲν ἔσται κυμάτων ἅπας βυθός, Γῆ δ' ἑδράνων ἔρημος, οὐδ' ἀὴρ ἔτι Πτερωτὰ φῦλα βαστάσει πυρουμένη. Καὶ γὰρ καθ' ᾅδην δύο τρίβους νομίζομεν, Μίαν δικαίων χἀτέραν τῶν ἀδίκων. Κἄπειτα σώσει πάνθ' ἃ πρόσθ' ἀπώλεσεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Φιλήμων πάλιν: Οἴει σὺ τοὺς θανόντας, ὦ Νικόστρατε, Τρυφῆς ἁπάσης μεταλαβόντας ἐν βίῳ, Καὶ γῆν καλύψειν, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ πάντ' εἰς χρόνον Πεφευγέναι τὸ θεῖον ὡς λεληθότας; Ἔστιν Δίκης ὀφθαλμός, ὃς τὰ πάνθ' ὁρᾷ. Εἰ γὰρ δίκαιος κἀσεβὴς ἕξουσιν ἕν, Ἅρπαζ' ἀπελθών, κλέπτ' ἀποστέρει κύκα. Μηδὲν πλανηθῇς: ἔστι κἀν ᾅδου κρίσις, Ἥνπερ ποιήσει θεὸς ὁ πάντων δεσπότης, Οὗ τοὔνομα φοβερὸν οὐδ' ἂν ὀνομάσαιμ' ἐγώ. Καὶ Εὐριπίδης: Ἄφθονον βίου μῆκος δίδωσι πρὸς κρίσιν. Ὅστις δὲ θνητῶν οἴεται τοὐφ' ἡμέραν Κακόν τι πράσσων τὸν θεὸν λεληθέναι, Δοκεῖ πονηρά, καὶ δοκῶν ἁλίσκεται, Ὅταν σχολὴν ἄγουσα τυγχάνῃ Δίκη. Ὁρᾶθ' ὅσοι νομίζετ' οὐκ εἶναι θεόν, Δὶς ἐξαμαρτάνοντες οὐκ εὐγνωμόνως: Ἔστιν γάρ, ἔστιν. Εἰ δέ τις πράσσει καλῶς, Κακὸς πεφυκώς, τὸν χρόνον κερδαινέτω: Χρόνῳ γὰρ οὗτος ὕστερον δώσει δίκην.