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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho
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Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew
Chapter II.—Justin describes his studies in philosophy.
Chapter III.—Justin narrates the manner of his conversion.
Chapter IV.—The soul of itself cannot see God.
Chapter V.—The soul is not in its own nature immortal.
Chapter VI.—These things were unknown to Plato and other philosophers.
Chapter VII.—The knowledge of truth to be sought from the prophets alone.
Chapter VIII.—Justin by his colloquy is kindled with love to Christ.
Chapter IX.—The Christians have not believed groundless stories.
Chapter X.—Trypho blames the Christians for this alone—the non-observance of the law.
Chapter XI.—The law abrogated the New Testament promised and given by God.
Chapter XII.—The Jews violate the eternal law, and interpret ill that of Moses.
Chapter XIII.—Isaiah teaches that sins are forgiven through Christ’s blood.
Chapter XV.—In what the true fasting consists.
Chapter XVII.—The Jews sent persons through the whole earth to spread calumnies on Christians.
Chapter XVIII.—Christians would observe the law, if they did not know why it was instituted.
Chapter XX.—Why choice of meats was prescribed.
Chapter XXII.—So also were sacrifices and oblations.
Chapter XXIII.—The opinion of the Jews regarding the law does an injury to God.
Chapter XXIV.—The Christians’ circumcision far more excellent.
Chapter XXV.—The Jews boast in vain that they are sons of Abraham.
Chapter XXVI.—No salvation to the Jews except through Christ.
Chapter XXVII.—Why God taught the same things by the prophets as by Moses.
Chapter XXVIII.—True righteousness is obtained by Christ.
Chapter XXIX.—Christ is useless to those who observe the law.
Chapter XXX.—Christians possess the true righteousness.
Chapter XXXI.—If Christ’s power be now so great, how much greater at the second advent!
Chapter XXXIV.—Nor does Ps. lxxii. apply to Solomon, whose faults Christians shudder at.
Chapter XXXV.—Heretics confirm the Catholics in the faith.
Chapter XXXVI.—He proves that Christ is called Lord of Hosts.
Chapter XXXVII.—The same is proved from other Psalms.
Chapter XLI.—The oblation of fine flour was a figure of the Eucharist.
Chapter XLII.—The bells on the priest’s robe were a figure of the apostles.
Chapter XLIII.—He concludes that the law had an end in Christ, who was born of the Virgin.
Chapter XLV.—Those who were righteous before and under the law shall be saved by Christ.
Chapter L.—It is proved from Isaiah that John is the precursor of Christ.
Chapter LI.—It is proved that this prophecy has been fulfilled.
Chapter LII.—Jacob predicted two advents of Christ.
Chapter LIII.—Jacob predicted that Christ would ride on an ass, and Zechariah confirms it.
Chapter LIV.—What the blood of the grape signifies.
Chapter LV.—Trypho asks that Christ be proved God, but without metaphor. Justin promises to do so.
Chapter LVI.—God who appeared to Moses is distinguished from God the Father.
Chapter LVII.—The Jew objects, why is He said to have eaten, if He be God? Answer of Justin.
Chapter LVIII.—The same is proved from the visions which appeared to Jacob.
Chapter LIX.—God distinct from the Father conversed with Moses.
Chapter LX.—Opinions of the Jews with regard to Him who appeared in the bush.
Chapter LXI—Wisdom is begotten of the Father, as fire from fire.
Chapter LXII.—The words “Let Us make man” agree with the testimony of Proverbs.
Chapter LXIII.—It is proved that this God was incarnate.
Chapter LXIV.—Justin adduces other proofs to the Jew, who denies that he needs this Christ.
Chapter LXVI.—He proves from Isaiah that God was born from a virgin.
Chapter LXXII.—Passages have been removed by the Jews from Esdras and Jeremiah.
Chapter LXXIII.—[The words] “From the wood” have been cut out of Ps. xcvi.
Chapter LXXV.—It is proved that Jesus was the name of God in the book of Exodus.
Chapter LXXVI.—From other passages the same majesty and government of Christ are proved.
Chapter LXXVII.—He returns to explain the prophecy of Isaiah.
Chapter LXXIX.—He proves against Trypho that the wicked angels have revolted from God.
Chapter LXXXI.—He endeavours to prove this opinion from Isaiah and the Apocalypse.
Chapter LXXXII.—The prophetical gifts of the Jews were transferred to the Christians.
Chapter LXXXIV.—That prophecy, “Behold, a virgin,” etc., suits Christ alone.
Chapter LXXXVIII.—Christ has not received the Holy Spirit on account of poverty.
Chapter XC.—The stretched-out hands of Moses signified beforehand the cross.
Chapter XCIV.—In what sense he who hangs on a tree is cursed.
Chapter XCV.—Christ took upon Himself the curse due to us.
Chapter XCVI.—That curse was a prediction of the things which the Jews would do.
Chapter XCVII.—Other predictions of the cross of Christ.
Chapter XCVIII.—Predictions of Christ in Ps. xxii.
Chapter XCIX.—In the commencement of the Psalm are Christ’s dying words.
Chapter C.—In what sense Christ is [called] Jacob, and Israel, and Son of Man.
Chapter CI.—Christ refers all things to the Father
Chapter CIII.—The Pharisees are the bulls: the roaring lion is Herod or the devil.
Chapter CIV.—Circumstances of Christ’s death are predicted in this Psalm.
Chapter CVI.—Christ’s resurrection is foretold in the conclusion of the Psalm.
Chapter CVII.—The same is taught from the history of Jonah.
Chapter CIX.—The conversion of the Gentiles has been predicted by Micah.
Chapter CXIII.—Joshua was a figure of Christ.
Chapter CXVI.—It is shown how this prophecy suits the Christians.
Chapter CXX.—Christians were promised to Isaac, Jacob, and Judah.
Chapter CXXI.—From the fact that the Gentiles believe in Jesus, it is evident that He is Christ.
Chapter CXXII.—The Jews understand this of the proselytes without reason.
Chapter CXXIII.—Ridiculous interpretations of the Jews. Christians are the true Israel.
Chapter CXXIV.—Christians are the sons of God.
Chapter CXXV.—He explains what force the word Israel has, and how it suits Christ.
Chapter CXXVII.—These passages of Scripture do not apply to the Father, but to the Word.
Chapter CXXIX.—That is confirmed from other passages of Scripture.
Chapter CXXX.—He returns to the conversion of the Gentiles, and shows that it was foretold.
Chapter CXXXII.—How great the power was of the name of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Chapter CXXXIII.—The hard-heartedness of the Jews, for whom the Christians pray.
Chapter CXXXIV.—The marriages of Jacob are a figure of the Church.
Chapter CXXXV.—Christ is king of Israel, and Christians are the Israelitic race.
Chapter CXXXVI.—The Jews, in rejecting Christ, rejected God who sent him.
Chapter CXXXVII.—He exhorts the Jews to be converted.
Chapter CXXXIX.—The blessings, and also the curse, pronounced by Noah were prophecies of the future.
“For tell me, was it not God who commanded by Moses that no image or likeness of anything which was in heaven above or which was on the earth should be made, and yet who caused the brazen serpent to be made by Moses in the wilderness, and set it up for a sign by which those bitten by serpents were saved? Yet is He free from unrighteousness. For by this, as I previously remarked, He proclaimed the mystery, by which He declared that He would break the power of the serpent which occasioned the transgression of Adam, and [would bring] to them that believe on Him [who was foreshadowed] by this sign, i.e., Him who was to be crucified, salvation from the fangs of the serpent, which are wicked deeds, idolatries, and other unrighteous acts. Unless the matter be so understood, give me a reason why Moses set up the brazen serpent for a sign, and bade those that were bitten gaze at it, and the wounded were healed; and this, too, when he had himself commanded that no likeness of anything whatsoever should be made.”
On this, another of those who came on the second day said, “You have spoken truly: we cannot give a reason. For I have frequently interrogated the teachers about this matter, and none of them gave me a reason: therefore continue what you are speaking; for we are paying attention while you unfold the mystery, on account of which the doctrines of the prophets are falsely slandered.”
Then I replied, “Just as God commanded the sign to be made by the brazen serpent, and yet He is blameless; even so, though a curse lies in the law against persons who are crucified, yet no curse lies on the Christ of God, by whom all that have committed things worthy of a curse are saved.367 [Gal. iii. 13.]
[94] Εἴπατε γάρ μοι, οὐχὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ ἐντειλάμενος διὰ Μωυσέως μήτε εἰκόνα μήτε ὁμοίωμα μήτε τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄνω μήτε τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ὅλως ποιῆσαι, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ διὰ τοῦ Μωυσέως τὸν χαλκοῦν ὄφιν ἐνήργησε γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐπὶ σημεῖον ἔστησε, δι' οὗ σημείου ἐσώζοντο οἱ ὀφιόδηκτοι, καὶ ἀναίτιός ἐστιν ἀδικίας; μυστήριον γὰρ διὰ τούτου, ὡς προέφην, ἐκήρυσσε, δι' οὗ καταλύειν μὲν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ὄφεως, τοῦ καὶ τὴν παράβασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ γενέσθαι ἐργασαμένου, ἐκήρυσσε, σωτηρίαν δὲ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπὶ τοῦτον τὸν διὰ τοῦ σημείου τούτου, τοῦτ' ἔστι τοῦ σταυροῦ θανατοῦσθαι μέλλοντα ἀπὸ τῶν δηγμάτων τοῦ ὄφεως, ἅπερ εἰσὶν αἱ κακαὶ πράξεις, εἰδωλολατρεῖαι καὶ ἄλλαι ἀδικίαι. ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο νοηθήσεται, δότε μοι λόγον ὅτου χάριν τὸν χαλκοῦν ὄφιν Μωυσῆς ἐπὶ σημείου ἔστησε, καὶ προβλέπειν αὐτὸν τοὺς δακνομένους ἐκέλευσε, καὶ ἐθεραπεύοντο οἱ δακνόμενοι, καὶ ταῦτα αὐτὸς κελεύσας μηδενὸς ὅλως ὁμοίωμα ποιεῖν. Καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τῶν τῇ δευτέρᾳ ἀφιγμένων εἶπεν: Ἀληθῶς εἶπας: οὐκ ἔχομεν λόγον διδόναι: καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ περὶ τούτου πολλάκις τοὺς διδασκάλους ἠρώτησα, καὶ οὐδείς μοι λόγον ἀπέδωκεν. ὥστε λέγε σὺ ἃ λέγεις: προσέχομεν γάρ σοι μυστήριον ἀποκαλύπτοντι, δι' ὧν καὶ τὰ τῶν προφητῶν διδάγματα συκοφαντητά ἐστι. Κἀγώ: Ὅνπερ οὖν τρόπον τὸ σημεῖον διὰ τοῦ χαλκοῦ ὄφεως γενέσθαι ὁ θεὸς ἐκέλευσε καὶ ἀναίτιός ἐστιν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κατάρα κεῖται κατὰ τῶν σταυρουμένων ἀνθρώπων: οὐκ ἔτι δὲ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ κατάρα κεῖται, δι' οὗ σώζει πάντας τοὺς κατάρας ἄξια πράξαντας.