The apology of saint justin on behalf of the christians

 To remain. it is therefore our task to provide to all the examination both of our life and of our teachings, so that on behalf of those who think to b

 To do no wrong nor to hold these godless opinions, you do not examine the charges, but driven by irrational passion and the scourge of wicked demons,

 Not as a christian but if anyone is found to be unconvicted, let him be acquitted as a christian who has done no wrong. for we will not ask you to pu

 And to think or say that men are guardians of gods. but we have been taught that god has no need of material offerings from men, seeing that he himsel

 For they do not try to escape notice when doing wrong because of the laws and punishments laid down by you, but knowing that it is possible to escape

 Of all resources for health, of the qualities of kinds of things and changes of seasons, and of being again in incorruption through faith in him, send

 To enter into the kingdom of heaven, than with two to be sent into the eternal fire. and: he who marries a woman divorced from another man commits adu

 And evil. do not be anxious about what you shall eat or what you shall wear. are you not more valuable than the birds and the beasts? and god feeds th

 He who does the will of my father who is in heaven. for whoever hears me and does what i say, hears the one who sent me. and many will say to me: lord

 And the men who are seized by the souls of the dead and are thrown about, whom all call possessed by demons and mad, and the oracles spoken of among y

 And sibyl and hystaspes said that there would be a destruction of corruptible things by fire. and the so-called stoic philosophers dogmatically assert

 To have come to ganymede and the many women with whom he committed adultery, and to have accepted his children for doing the same things. but, as we s

 And rivers and mice and cats and crocodiles and most of the irrational animals, and not the same ones being honored by all, but different ones in diff

 Saying. and a certain marcion of pontus, who is even now still teaching those who are persuaded by him to believe in some other god greater than the c

 Christ foretold. for indeed, god's persistence in not yet doing this has been for the sake of the human race for he foreknows some who are going to b

 Sent to herod, who was then ruling the jews, asking that the books of the prophecies be sent to him. and king herod sent them, written in their aforem

 His manifestation occurred, and you ruled the jews and took possession of all their land. and he shall be the expectation of the nations was an indi

 Was prophesied through isaiah, listen. and it was spoken thus: behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they will speak

 Of the registrations made under cyrenius, your first procurator in judaea. and how christ after his birth was to be concealed from other men until he

 A being, but introducing the persons who are speaking. not understanding this, the jews who have the books of the prophets did not recognize christ ev

 I arose, because the lord helped me. and again when he says: they spoke with their lips, they shook their head, saying: let him deliver himself. that

 In addition to these things, we have also considered it well and fitting to recall other words prophesied through this same david, from which you can

 To him with trembling. lay hold of instruction, lest at any time the lord be angry, and you perish from the righteous way, when his wrath is kindled q

 The human race has the power to choose what is good, it is not responsible for what is done in any way. but that by free choice it both does right and

 So that even plato, when he said, 'the fault is of the one who chooses god is blameless,' said this, having taken it from moses the prophet for mose

 Jerusalem a prediction of the mighty word, which his apostles, going forth from jerusalem, preached everywhere, and, although death has been decreed a

 You bore these things and were silent and humbled us exceedingly. and that jerusalem was made desolate, as it was foretold would happen, you are persu

 They gave, being filled with joy and faith, they renounced the idols and dedicated themselves to the unbegotten god through christ. and that it was fo

 Having been given to them to study also the prophecies, in which all these things were foretold as going to happen, having taught them, and when they

 He will clothe the worthy with incorruption, but the unjust he will send into the eternal fire with the evil demons in eternal sensation. and that the

 The jewish and samaritan tribe are called israel and the house of jacob. and as it was prophesied that those from the nations who believe would be mor

 Accurately, but how, being deceived, they have imitated the things concerning our christ, we shall make clear. moses, then, the prophet, as we have sa

 The human form differs from that of the other irrational animals in nothing else than in its being erect and having the hands extended, and in its bea

 And of nothing else new, but of the same things being in this administration of which if even a year's satiety should seize those who have partaken,

 And what is physically described in plato's timaeus concerning the son of god, when he says, he placed him crosswise in the universe, he similarly s

 Then they are led by us to where there is water, and are born again in the manner of rebirth by which we ourselves were also born again for in the na

 And the demons, having learned from the things that happened to moses, the aforementioned prophet, that those who worship are commanded the same thing

 He endured to suffer all that the demons worked against him, to be treated so by the foolish jews. who, although it was plainly spoken in the writings

 Not from intercourse, but, since they knew that god, having conceived it, made the world by the word, they said that athena was the first thought whi

 Which the wicked demons have imitated and delivered to be performed in the mysteries of mithras for that bread and a cup of water are set forth in th

 Of caesar adrian, your father, having the right to demand of you as we thought fit to command that the judgments be made, not so much from the fact th

The Jewish and Samaritan tribe are called Israel and the house of Jacob. And as it was prophesied that those from the nations who believe would be more numerous than those from the Jews and Samaritans, we will report what was prophesied. For it was spoken thus: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one are many more than of her who has a husband. For all the nations were desolate of the true God, serving the works of hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the word from God delivered to them through the prophets and always expecting the Christ, did not recognize him when he came, except for a certain few whom the holy prophetic spirit foretold through Isaiah would be saved. And he spoke as from their person: Unless the Lord had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. For Sodom and Gomorrah are recorded by Moses as being certain cities of impious men, which God destroyed by burning them with fire and brimstone, with no one in them being saved except a certain foreigner, a Chaldean by race, whose name was Lot; with whom his daughters were also saved. And those who wish can see their whole land, which is desolate and burnt and remains barren. And that those from the nations were foreknown to be more true and more faithful, we will report the things spoken through Isaiah the prophet. And he spoke thus: Israel is uncircumcised in heart, but the nations in the foreskin. At any rate, seeing so many things is able with reason to fill with persuasion and faith those who embrace the truth and are not lovers of glory nor ruled by passions. But those who hand down the myths invented by the poets bring no proof to the young who learn them, and we show that they have been spoken for the deception and leading astray of the human race by the agency of wicked demons. For having heard through the prophets that the Christ was proclaimed to be coming, and that the impious among men would be punished by fire, they put forward many to be called so-called sons of Zeus, thinking they would be able to make men consider the things concerning Christ a marvelous tale and similar to the things spoken by the poets. And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations, wherever they most heard the prophets proclaiming beforehand that Christ would be believed. But that even when hearing the things spoken through the prophets, they did not understand

Ἰουδαϊκὸν καὶ Σαμαρειτικὸν φῦλον Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οἶκος Ἰακὼβ κέ κληνται. ὡς δὲ προεφητεύθη ὅτι πλείονες οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πιστεύοντες τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Σαμαρέων, τὰ προφητευ θέντα ἀπαγγελοῦμεν. ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· Eὐφράνθητι στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα, ·ῆξον καὶ βόησον ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα, ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα. ἔρημα γὰρ ἦν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀληθινοῦ θεοῦ, χειρῶν ἔργοις λατρεύ οντα· Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ καὶ Σαμαρεῖς, ἔχοντες τὸν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον διὰ τῶν προφητῶν παραδοθέντα αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀεὶ προσδο κήσαντες τὸν Χριστόν, παραγενόμενον ἠγνόησαν, πλὴν ὀλίγων τινῶν οὓς προεῖπε τὸ ἅγιον προφητικὸν πνεῦμα διὰ Ἠσαίου σωθήσεσθαι. εἶπε δὲ ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν· Eἰ μὴ κύ ριος ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα ἂν ἐγε νήθημεν. Σόδομα γὰρ καὶ Γόμορρα πόλεις τινὲς ἀσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν ἱστοροῦνται ὑπὸ Μωυσέως γενόμεναι, ἃς πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ καύσας ὁ θεὸς κατέστρεψε, μηδενὸς τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς σω θέντος πλὴν ἀλλοεθνοῦς τινος Χαλδαίου τὸ γένος, ᾧ ὄνομα Λώτ· σὺν ᾧ καὶ θυγατέρες διεσώθησαν. καὶ τὴν πᾶσαν αὐτῶν χώραν ἔρημον καὶ κεκαυμένην οὖσαν καὶ ἄγονον μέ νουσαν οἱ βουλόμενοι ὁρᾶν ἔχουσιν. ὡς δὲ καὶ ἀληθέστεροι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ πιστότεροι προεγινώσκοντο. ἀπαγγελοῦμεν τὰ εἰρημένα διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προφήτου. ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· Ἰσραὴλ ἀπερίτμητος τὴν καρδίαν, τὰ δὲ ἔθνη τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν. τὰ τοσαῦτα γοῦν ὁρώμενα πειθὼ καὶ πίστιν τοῖς τἀληθὲς ἀσπαζομένοις καὶ μὴ φιλοδοξοῦσι μηδὲ ὑπὸ παθῶν ἀρχομένοις μετὰ λόγου ἐμφορῆσαι δύναται. Oἱ δὲ παραδιδόντες τὰ μυθοποιηθέντα ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν οὐδεμίαν ἀπόδειξιν φέρουσι τοῖς ἐκμανθάνουσι νέοις, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ καὶ ἀπαγωγῇ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους εἰρῆσθαι ἀποδείκνυμεν κατ' ἐνέργειαν τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων. ἀκού σαντες γὰρ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν κηρυσσόμενον παραγενησόμενον τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ κολασθησομένους διὰ πυρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, προεβάλλοντο πολλοὺς λεχθῆναι λεγομένους υἱοὺς τῷ ∆ιΐ, νομίζοντες δυνήσεσθαι ἐνεργῆσαι τερατολογίαν ἡγήσασθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ὅμοια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν λεχθεῖσι. καὶ ταῦτα δ' ἐλέχθη καὶ ἐν Ἕλλησιν καὶ ἐν ἔθνεσι πᾶσιν, ὅπου μᾶλλον ἐπήκουον τῶν προφητῶν πιστευθήσεσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν προκηρυσσόντων. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀκούοντες τὰ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν λεγόμενα οὐκ ἐνόουν