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 Apology of Saint Justin on behalf of the Christians

to Antoninus Pius. To the Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to his son Verissimus, the Philosopher, and to Lucius, the Philosopher, son of Caesar by nature and adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate and the whole people of the Romans, on behalf of those of every race of men who are unjustly hated and abused, I, Justin, son of Priscus, son of Bacchius, from Flavia Neapolis in Syria Palestine, one of them, have composed this address and petition. Reason dictates that those who are truly pious and philosophers should honor and love the truth alone, refusing to follow the opinions of the ancients, if they are worthless; for not only does sound reason dictate that we should not follow those who have done or taught something unjustly, but the lover of truth must in every way, even before his own life, choose to speak and to do what is just, even if death threatens. You, then, are everywhere heard of as being pious and philosophers and guardians of justice and lovers of learning; but whether you are so, will now be shown. For we have come not to flatter you by means of these writings, nor to speak for your favor, but to demand that you make the judgment according to strict and searching reason, not swayed by prejudice or by a desire to please superstitious men, nor by irrational impulse and long-standing evil rumor, to cast a vote against yourselves. For we have reckoned that we can suffer no evil from anyone, unless we are convicted as doers of wickedness or are proved to be evil men; and you can kill us, but you cannot harm us. But lest anyone think this to be an irrational and reckless utterance, we demand that the accusations against them be examined, and, if they are proven to be so, that they be punished as is fitting—or rather, that you punish; but if no one has anything to prove, true reason does not dictate that because of an evil rumor you should wrong innocent men, or rather yourselves, who think fit to conduct matters not by judgment but by passion. And every sober-minded person will declare this to be a fine and only just demand, that the subjects should render an unimpeachable account of their own life and doctrine, and that likewise the rulers should give their decision not by violence or tyranny, but following piety and philosophy; for thus both rulers and ruled would enjoy what is good. For one of the ancients has somewhere said: Unless the rulers philo

sophize and the ruled, cities could not be happ

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν

πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Eὐσεβῆ. Aὐτοκράτορι Τίτῳ Aἰλίῳ Ἀδριανῷ Ἀντωνίνῳ Eὐσεβεῖ Σεβαστῷ Καίσαρι, καὶ Oὐηρισσίμῳ υἱῷ Φιλοσόφῳ, καὶ Λουκίῳ Φιλοσόφῳ, Καίσαρος φύσει υἱῷ καὶ Eὐσεβοῦς εἰσ ποιητῷ, ἐραστῇ παιδείας, ἱερᾷ τε συγκλήτῳ καὶ δήμῳ παντὶ Ῥωμαίων, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκ παντὸς γένους ἀνθρώπων ἀδίκως μι σουμένων καὶ ἐπηρεαζομένων, Ἰουστῖνος Πρίσκου τοῦ Βακ χείου, τῶν ἀπὸ Φλαουΐας Νέας πόλεως τῆς Συρίας Παλαι στίνης, εἷς αὐτῶν, τὴν προσφώνησιν καὶ ἔντευξιν πεποίημαι. Τοὺς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν εὐσεβεῖς καὶ φιλοσόφους μόνον τἀληθὲς τιμᾶν καὶ στέργειν ὁ λόγος ὑπαγορεύει, παραιτουμέ νους δόξαις παλαιῶν ἐξακολουθεῖν, ἂν φαῦλαι ὦσιν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον μὴ ἕπεσθαι τοῖς ἀδίκως τι πράξασιν ἢ δογματίσασιν ὁ σώφρων λόγος ὑπαγορεύει, ἀλλ' ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς τὸν φιλαλήθη, κἂν θάνατος ἀπειλῆται, τὰ δίκαια λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν αἱρεῖσθαι δεῖ. ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν ὅτι λέγεσθε εὐσεβεῖς καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ φύλακες δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐρασταὶ παιδείας, ἀκούετε πανταχοῦ· εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑπάρχετε, δειχθήσεται. οὐ γὰρ κολακεύσοντες ὑμᾶς διὰ τῶνδε τῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲ πρὸς χάριν ὁμιλήσοντες, ἀλλ' ἀπαιτήσοντες κατὰ τὸν ἀκριβῆ καὶ ἐξεταστικὸν λόγον τὴν κρίσιν ποιήσασθαι προσεληλύθειμεν, μὴ προλήψει μηδ' ἀνθρωπαρεσκείᾳ τῇ δεισιδαιμόνων κατεχομένους ἢ ἀλόγῳ ὁρμῇ καὶ χρονίᾳ προ κατεσχηκυίᾳ φήμῃ κακῇ τὴν καθ' ἑαυτῶν ψῆφον φέροντας. ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς οὐδενὸς πείσεσθαί τι κακὸν δύνασθαι λελογίσμεθα, ἢν μὴ κακίας ἐργάται ἐλεγχώμεθα ἢ πονηροὶ διεγνώσμεθα· ὑμεῖς δ' ἀποκτεῖναι μὲν δύνασθε, βλάψαι δ' οὔ. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ ἄλογον φωνὴν καὶ τολμηρὰν δόξῃ τις ταῦτα εἶναι, ἀξιοῦμεν τὰ κατηγορούμενα αὐτῶν ἐξετάζεσθαι, καὶ, ἐὰν οὕτως ἔχοντα ἀποδεικνύωνται, κολάζεσθαι ὡς πρέ πον ἐστί μᾶλλον δὲ κολάζειν · εἰ δὲ μηδὲν ἔχοι τις ἐλέγχειν, οὐχ ὑπαγορεύει ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος διὰ φήμην πονηρὰν ἀναι τίους ἀνθρώπους ἀδικεῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑαυτούς, οἳ οὐ κρίσει ἀλλὰ πάθει τὰ πράγματα ἐπάγειν ἀξιοῦτε. καλὴν δὲ καὶ μόνην δικαίαν πρόκλησιν ταύτην πᾶς ὁ σωφρονῶν ἀποφα νεῖται, τὸ τοὺς ἀρχομένους τὴν εὐθύνην τοῦ ἑαυτῶν βίου καὶ λόγου ἄληπτον παρέχειν, ὁμοίως δ' αὖ καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας μὴ βίᾳ μηδὲ τυραννίδι ἀλλ' εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ ἀκολουθοῦν τας τὴν ψῆφον τίθεσθαι· οὕτως γὰρ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἄρ χοντες καὶ οἱ ἀρχόμενοι ἀπολαύοιεν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. ἔφη γάρ που καί τις τῶν παλαιῶν· -Aν μὴ οἱ ἄρχοντες φιλο

σοφήσωσι καὶ οἱ ἀρχόμενοι, οὐκ ἂν εἴη τὰς πόλεις εὐδαι