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
OF SAINT JUSTIN PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR, RESPONSES TO THE ORTHODOX CONCERNING CERTAIN
NECESSARY QUESTIONS.
Question 1. If God abolished the ancient worship, as not being pleased with it, and introduced the Christian worship in its place as pleasing to Himself, but the Orthodox, who alone are pleasing to God, are not equal in number to the Greeks and Jews and all the heretics but fewer, what is the proof that it is not due to a poverty of power on the part of Him who chose this worship instead of that one that error remains uneradicated? And how is the abolition of that worship not unprofitable, since much error still possesses the world? Response or solution to the question. Since God abolished the ancient worship, and purposed through the old testament to introduce the new, if indeed He introduced this one instead of that one, first proclaimed by words witnessed by divine powers, He abolished both Judaism and Hellenism; and later by deeds likewise accomplished by divine powers He is bringing about the eradication of all error among men and demons, and with this He also abolished the worship and wickedness of all the evil heresies in the world, of faith and of practice. If not all who have received the worship keep and hold the same opinion about the same things, but some rightly, and others not rightly, this is not an accusation against God for poverty of power that those men, out of their own negligence or other weakness, do not rightly understand the things believed by them, but of their own negligence. And it has been said in the worship being introduced concerning the fewness of the Orthodox, at one time, Many are called, but few are chosen, and at another, Because narrow and afflicted is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Likewise also concerning the heresies, which the Lord in His parables calls tares and bad fish. If, therefore, there is nothing false in the Christian worship, as the truth of the events testifies, making the future things credible from the past, then there is by no means left any pretext for accusing God of poverty of power or for calling unprofitable the worship introduced in place of worship, which is now destructive of both Judaism and Hellenism, and later also of the heresies. Question 2. If prophets and apostles have foretold things to come, such as trophies of wars, the assault of enemies and the destruction of cities by those attacking them, and the sayings of oracles among the Greeks have also foretold, whence are these known to be better than those outside, on the part of each concerning the things that will be
ΤOΥ AΓIOΥ IOΥΣΤIΝOΥ ΦIΛOΣOΦOΥ ΚAI ΜAΡΤΥΡOΣ AΠOΚΡIΣEIΣ ΠΡOΣ ΤOΥΣ OΡΘO∆OΞOΥΣ ΠEΡI ΤIΝΩΝ
AΝAΓΚAIΩΝ ΖHΤHΜAΤΩΝ.
Ἐρώτησις α. Eἰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν μὲν λατρείαν ἀνεῖλεν ὁ θεὸς ὡς αὐτὴν μὴ ἀρεσκόμενος, τὴν δὲ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ὡς ἀρεστὴν αὑτῷ ἀντεισ
ήγαγεν, οἱ δὲ ὀρθόδοξοι, οἱ μόνοι θεῷ ἀρέσκοντες, τῶν Ἑλ λήνων τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ πάντων τῶν αἱρετικῶν οὐκ ἴσοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν
τυγχάνουσιν ἀλλ' ἥσσονες, τίς ἡ ἀπόδειξις τοῦ μὴ κατὰ πτωχείαν δυνάμεως τοῦ ταύτην ἀντ' ἐκείνης ἑλομένου τὴν λατρείαν μένειν
ἀνεκρίζωτον τὴν πλάνην; Πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἀνωφελὴς ἡ ἐκείνης τῆς λατρείας λύσις, πλάνης ἔτι πολλῆς κατεχούσης τὸν κόσμον; Ἀπόκρισις
ἤτοι λύσις τῆς ἐρωτήσεως. Τὴν ἀρχαίαν τοῦ θεοῦ λατρείαν λύσαντος, τὴν νέαν δὲ ἀντεισαγαγεῖν διὰ τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης προθεμένου,
εἰ μὲν ἀντεισήγαγε ταύτην ἀντ' ἐκείνης, πρῶτον μὲν κηρυττομέ νην λόγοις θείαις δυνάμεσι μαρτυρουμένοις, ἀνεῖλεν ἰουδαϊσμόν
τε καὶ ἑλληνισμόν· ὕστερον δὲ ἔργοις θείαις ὡσαύτως δυνάμεσι γινομένοις πάσης τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις τε καὶ δαίμοσι πλάνης ποιεῖ
τὴν ἐκρίζωσιν, σὺν ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ κακῶν αἱρέσεων ἀνεῖλε τὴν λατρείαν καὶ πονηρίαν πίστεώς τε καὶ ποιήσεως.
Eἰ μὴ πάντες οἱ δεξάμενοι τὴν λατρείαν τὴν αὐτὴν δόξαν περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πραγμάτων τηροῦσι καὶ ἔχουσιν, ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν ὀρθῶς, ἄλλοι
δὲ οὐκ ὀρθῶς, τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστι κατηγόρημα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ πτωχείᾳ δυνάμεως τὸ ἐκείνους ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας ἀμελείας ἢ ἑτέρας ἀσθενείας
ὀρθῶς μὴ νοεῖν τὰ ὑπ' αὐτῶν πιστευόμενα, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀμε λείας. Eἴρηται δὲ ἐν τῇ εἰσαγομένῃ λατρείᾳ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὀρ θοδόξων
ὀλιγότητος ποτὲ μὲν Πολλοὶ μέν εἰσι κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί, ποτὲ δὲ Ὅτι στενὴ καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν
ζωήν, καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτήν. Ὡσαύτως καὶ περὶ τῶν αἱρέσεων, ἃς ὁ κύριος ἐν ταῖς ἑαυ τοῦ παραβολαῖς ζιζάνια
καὶ σαπροὺς καλεῖ ἰχθύας. Eἰ τοίνυν μηδὲν ἐψευσμένον ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ τῶν Χριστιανῶν λατρείᾳ, ὡς ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων μαρτυρεῖ ἀλήθεια,
ἐκ τῶν προλαβόντων πε πιστευμένα ποιοῦσα τὰ μέλλοντα, οὐδαμῶς ἄρα ὑπολέλειπται πρόφασις τοῦ διαβάλλειν τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ πτωχείᾳ
δυνάμεως ἢ τοῦ ἀνωφελῆ λέγειν τὴν ἀντὶ λατρείας λατρείαν εἰσαγομένην, τὴν νῦν μὲν λυτικὴν οὖσαν ἰουδαϊσμοῦ τε καὶ ἑλληνισμοῦ,
ὕστε ρον δὲ καὶ τῶν αἱρέσεων. Ἐρώτησις β. Eἰ τὰ μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι, οἷον πολέμων τρόπαια, ἐχθρῶν ἔφοδον καὶ πόλεων ἀναιρέσεις
διὰ τῶν ἐπιτιθεμένων αὐταῖς, προειρήκασι προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι, προεῖπον δὲ καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησι χρησμῶν λόγοι, πόθεν οἱ τούτων
κρείττους γνωρίζον ται τῶν ἔξωθεν, παρ' ἑκατέρου μέρους τῆς τῶν ἐσομένων
