Justin’s Christology Revisited Once Again

No proper name has been bestowed upon God, the Father of all, since He is unbegotten. For, whoever has a proper name received it from a person older than himself. The words Father, and God, and Creator, and Lord, and Master are not real names, but rather terms of address derived from His beneficent deeds. But His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who was with Him [God, the Father] and was begotten¹ BEFORE ALL THINGS, when in the beginning He [God, the Father] created and arranged all things through Him [the Son], is called Christ, because He was anointed and because God the Father arranged all the things of creation through Him. This name also has an unknown meaning, just as the term 'God,' which is not a real name, but the expression of man's innate² opinion of a thing that can scarcely be defined. But 'Jesus,'³ which is His name both as Man and Savior, has a meaning. For He also became man, as we stated,⁴ and was born in accordance with the will of God the Father for the benefit of believers, and for the defeat of the demons. Even now, your own eyes will teach you the truth of this last statement. For many demoniacs throughout the entire world, and even in your own city, were exorcised by many of our Christians in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate; and our men cured them, and they still cure others by rendering helpless and dispelling the demons who had taken possession of these men, even when they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and exploiters of incantations and drugs.

'We have now heard your opinion on these matters,' interrupted Trypho. 'Resume your discourse where you left off, and bring it to an end, for it seems to be entirely absurd and utterly impossible of proof. Your statement that this Christ existed as God BEFORE ALL AGES, and then that He consented to be born and become man, yet that He is not of human origin, appears to be not only paradoxical, but preposterous.'

'I am aware,'¹ replied, 'that my assertion must seem paradoxical, especially to you Jews, who were never in the least interested in knowing or doing the things of God, but only the things of your teachers, as God Himself testifies.¹ However, Trypho, the fact that this Man is the Christ of God is not to be denied, even if I were unable to prove that He, being God, pre-existed as the Son of the Creator of the universe and became Man through a virgin. Since it has been proved beyond all doubt that He is the Christ of God, whatever that Christ eventually is to be, even if I fail to show that He pre-existed, and consented to become man with a body and feelings like our own, according to the will of the Father; only in this last regard could you rightly claim that 1 have been wrong. But you cannot deny that He is the Christ, even though He apparently is of human origin, and evidently became the Christ by the Father's choice. For, my friends, there are some of our race,² who acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, but claim that He has a merely human origin. I naturally disagree with such persons, nor would I agree with them even if the majority of those who share my opinions were to say so. For we have been told by Christ Himself not to follow the teachings of men, but only those which have been announced by the holy Prophets and taught by Himself.'

'So, my friends,' I said, 'I shall now show from the Scriptures that God has begotten OF HIMSELF a certain rational Power as a Beginning¹ BEFORE ALL OTHER CREATURES. The Holy Spirit indicates this Power by various titles, sometimes the Glory of the Lord, at other times Son, or Wisdom, or Angel, or God, or Lord, or Word. He even called Himself Commander-in-chief when He appeared in human guise to Josue, the son of Nun. Indeed, He can justly lay claim to all these titles from the fact both that He performs the Father's will and that He was begotten by an act of the Father's will. But, does not something similar happen also with us humans? When we utter a word, it can be said that we beget the word, but not by cutting it off, in the sense that our power of uttering words would thereby be diminished. We can observe a similar example in nature when one fire kindles another,² without losing anything, but remaining the same; yet the enkindled fire seems to exist of itself and to shine without lessening the brilliancy of the first fire. My statements will now be confirmed by none other than the Word of Wisdom, who is this God begotten from the Universal Father, and who is the Word and Wisdom and Power and Glory of Him who begot Him. Here are His words as spoken by Solomon: "If I shall declare to you what happens daily, I shall call to mind events from eternity, and recount them. The Lord begot Me in the beginning of His ways for His works. I was set up from eternity, before He made the earth, and before He made the depths, before the fountains of waters had sprung out, before the mountains had been established. Before all the hills He begets Me. God made the earth, and the desert, and the highest inhabited places under the sky. When He prepared the heavens, I was present. When He set up His throne on the winds, when He established the clouds above, and strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He balanced the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging all things. I was that in which He delighted; daily and at all times I delighted in His presence, because He rejoiced for having finished the habitable world, and delighted in the sons of men. Now therefore, My son, hear Me. Blessed is the man that heareth Me, and the man that shall keep My ways, watching daily at My gates, and waiting at the posts of My doors, for My ways are the ways of life; and My will has been prepared by the Lord. But they that sin against Me, hurt their own souls, and they that hate Me love death."'³

'My friends,' I continued, 'the word of God, through Moses, stated exactly the same thing, when it revealed to us that at the creation of man God spoke of Him (who was pointed out by Moses) in the same sense. Here is the Scriptural passage: "Let us make man to Our image and likeness; and let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

And God created man; to the image of God did He create him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it."'¹

'Lest you distort the meaning of these words by repeating what your teachers say-either that God said to Himself, "Let us make," just as we, when on the verge of doing something, say to ourselves, "Let us make"; or that God said "Let us make" to the elements, that is, to the earth or other similar substances of which we think man was composed-I wish again to quote Moses to prove beyond all doubt that He spoke with One endowed with reason, and different in number from Himself. These are the words of Moses: "And God said: Behold Adam is become as one of Us, knowing good and evil."² Now, the words "as one of Us" clearly show that there were a number of persons together, and they were at least two. I do not consider that teaching true which is asserted by what you call a heretical sect of your religion, nor can the proponents of that heresy prove that He spoke those words to angels, or that the human body was the result of the angel's work. But this Offspring, who was truly begotten of the Father, was with the Father and the Father TALKED WITH HIM BEFORE ALL CREATION, as the Scripture through Solomon clearly showed us, saying that this Son, who is called Wisdom by Solomon, was begotten both as a beginning before all His works, and as His Offspring. God has testified to this same truth in the revelation to Josue, the son of Nun. To be fully convinced, listen to these words of the book of Josue: "And it came to pass, when Josue was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him. And Josue went to Him and said: Art Thou one of ours, or of our adversaries? And He answered: I am the Prince of the host of the Lord, and now I am come. Josue fell on his face to the ground, and said to Him: Lord, what commandest Thou Thy servant? And the Lord's Prince said to Josue: Loose thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. Now Jericho was shut up and fortified, and no one went out of it. And the Lord said to Josue: Behold, I have given into thy hands Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant men."'³

'My friend,' said Trypho, 'you have proved your point with much force and copious arguments. Now prove to us that He condescended to become man by a virgin, in accordance with His Father's will, and to be crucified, and to die; show us, too, that He arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.' 'Gentlemen,' I replied, 'I have already proved this by previously quoted prophecies, but, in order to convince you on this point also, I will repeat and explain those passages for you. Do not these words of Isaias, "Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from earth,"¹ seem to indicate that He, who is said to have been consigned to death by God [the Father] because of the sins of the people, did not have mere human origin? Moses, too, in speaking of His blood in a formerly quoted parable, said: "He shall wash His robe in the blood of the grape,”² since His blood did not originate from human seed but from the will of God. And then, there are the words of David: "In the brightness of Thy saints, from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: Thou art a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech."³ Do not these words signify that from ancient times God, the Father of all things, intended Him to be begotten again and of a human womb? In another passage previously cited, He says: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume Thy garments, from the ivory houses, whereby they have made Thee glad. King's daughters are in Thy honor. The queen stood at Thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty, for He is thy Lord, and Him thou shalt adore."⁴ These words also show clearly that He who did all things [God the Father] testified that He [Jesus] is to be worshipped both as God and Christ. They further show that the Word of God speaks to His faithful (who are of one soul and one synagogue and one church) as to a daughter, namely, the Church which was established by and partakes in His name (for we all are called Christians). That this is so, and that we are instructed to forget the ancient customs of our ancestors, the following words imply: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty, for He is thy Lord, and Him thou shalt adore."'⁵

'And the words, "But Thou dwellest in the holy place, Thou praise of Israel," signified that He would do something worthy of praise and admiration, which He did when through the Father He arose again from the dead on the third day after the crucifixion. I have indeed pointed out earlier that Christ is called both Jacob and Israel, and that not only in the blessing of Joseph and Juda have things been predicted mysteriously of Him, but also in the Gospel it is written that He said: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son; nor does anyone know the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him."¹ He thus revealed to us all that we have learned from the Scriptures by His grace, so that we know Him as the First-begotten of God BEFORE ALL CREATURES, and as the Son of the patriarchs, since He became incarnate by a virgin of their race, and condescended to become a man without comeliness or honor, and subject to suffering. Hence, He alluded to His imminent passion in this way, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Pharisees and Scribes, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day."² He called Himself Son of Man, either because of His birth by the virgin who was, as I said, of the family of David and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, or because Adam himself was the father of those above-mentioned Patriarchs from whom Mary traces her descent. It is clear that the fathers of girls are also considered the fathers of the children born to their daughters. And Christ changed the name of one of His disciples from Simon to Peter,³ when he, enlightened by the Father, recognized Him to be Christ, the Son of God. And since we find it written in the Memoirs of the Apostles that He is the Son of God, and since we call Him by that same title, we have understood that this is really He and that He proceeded BEFORE ALL CREATURES from the Father by His power and will (for in the prophetic writings He is called Wisdom, the Day, the East, Sword, Stone, Rod, Jacob, and Israel, always in a different way); and that He is born of the Virgin, in order that the disobedience caused by the serpent might be destroyed in the same manner in which it had originated. For Eve, an undefiled virgin, conceived the word of the serpent, and brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary, filled with faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced to her the good tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her, and therefore the Holy One born of her would be the Son of God, answered: "Be it done unto me according to Thy word.”⁴ And, indeed, she gave birth to Him, concerning whom we have shown so many passages of Scripture were written, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who have become like the serpent, but frees from death those who repent of their sins and believe in Christ.'

Trypho then said, 'It may also be admitted that this is exactly as you say, and that the Prophets predicted that Christ was to suffer, that He was to be called a Stone, that His first advent in which He was proclaimed to appear in suffering would be followed by another in glory, and that He would thenceforth be the Judge of all men, and the Eternal King and Priest. But prove to us that Jesus Christ is the one about whom these prophecies were spoken.'

'At the proper time,' I replied, 'I will supply the proofs you wish, but for the present permit me to quote the following prophecies to show that the Holy Spirit by parable called Christ God, and Lord of hosts and of Jacob. God Himself calls your interpreters stupid¹ because they claim that these prophecies were not spoken of Christ, but of Solomon, when he transported the ark of testimony into the temple built by himself. Listen to these words of David's Psalm: "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world, and all they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord; or who shall stand in His holy place? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek Him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord who is strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the king of Glory."² This proves that Solomon was not the Lord of hosts. But, when our Christ arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, the heavenly princes chosen by God were ordered to open the gates of Heaven that the King of Glory might enter and sit at the right hand of the Father until He makes His enemies His footstool (as it is stated in another³ psalm). Now, when these heavenly princes saw that He was in appearance without beauty, honor, or glory, and not recognizing Him, they asked: "Who is this King of Glory?" And the Holy Spirit, either in His own name or in the Father's, answered: "The Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory." But I am sure that everyone will admit that none of the gate-keepers of the Temple at Jerusalem ever said of Solomon (though he was ever so glorious a king), or of the ark of testimony, "Who is this King of Glory?”'

'Christ is thus further described,' I continued, 'in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, "God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing ye; sing praises to our king, sing yeo For God is the king of all the earth, sing ye wisely. God hath reigned over the Gentiles; God sitteth on His holy throne. The princes of the people are gathered together with the God of Abraham, for the strong ones of the earth are of God, and have been exceedingly exalted."¹ And in Psalm ninety-eight the Holy Spirit reprimands you, and announces that He whom you refuse to recognize as your king is the King and Lord of Samuel, Aaron, Moses, and of every other man. Here are the words of that Psalm: "The Lord hath reigned, let the people be angry. He that sitteth on the cherubim; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Sian, and high above all people. Let them give praise to Thy great name, for it is terrible, and holy; and the King's honor loveth judgment. Thou hast prepared directions; Thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore His footstool, for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name. They called upon the Lord (say the Scriptures), and He heard them. He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. They kept His testimonies, and the commandment which He gave them. Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God. Thou wast merciful to them, O God, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore at His holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy."'²

'Then, too, some of you dare to explain the following words, "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, that the King of Glory may enter," l as if they referred to Hezekiah, while others of you apply them to Solomon. On the contrary, we can prove that they were spoken neither of one nor of the other, nor of any of your kings, but only of our Christ, who appeared without beauty or honor (as Isaias, David, and all the Scriptures testify); who is Lord of hosts by the will of the Father who bestowed that honor upon Him; who arose again from the dead and ascended into Heaven (as is stated in the Psalm and other Scriptural passages which also declared Him to be Lord of hosts). You can easily see the truth of this, if you will but open your eyes and look at the things that are happening around you. Every demon is vanquished and subdued when exorcised in the name of this true Son of God, who was the First-born of all creatures, who was born of a virgin, who suffered and was crucified by your people under Pontius Pilate, who died and then, after His resurrection from the dead, ascended into Heaven. But, when you attempt to exorcise them in the name of any man born among you (whether kings, just men, prophets or patriarchs), not one of the demons will be subject to you. If any man among you should exorcise them in the name of the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, they will, perhaps, become subject to you. But some of your exorcists, as I have already noted, adjure the demons by employing the magical art of the Gentiles, using fumigations and amulets. The words of David also show that there are angels and powers whom the word of the prophecy, through David, ordered to lift up the gates in order that He who arose from the dead, Jesus Christ, the Lord of hosts, should enter in accordance with the Father's will. For the sake of those who were not with us yesterday, I will repeat the prophecy of David and summarize much of what was said at that time. I do not think it useless to do so, even though it means frequently repeating myself. It would be foolish to observe the sun and moon and other stars as they revolve in their same courses and effect the same change of seasons; and to consider a mathematician as he constantly gives the answer "four" when asked how many two times two are; and to speak always in the same way in acknowledging all other things that are firmly established as true-and yet, when discoursing about the meaning of the prophecies contained in the Scriptures, to prefer not to quote always the same Scripture, but to think oneself capable of inventing and uttering words superior to the Scriptures.

Here is the passage from which I showed that God revealed to us that there are angels and powers in Heaven: "Praise ye the Lord from the heavens; praise ye Him in the high places. Praise ye Him, all His angels; praise ye Him, all His hosts."'²

At this point, one of the men who had joined them on the second day, Mnaseas by name, remarked, 'We greatly appreciate your kindness in taking the trouble to repeat those passages for our sake.'

'My friends,' I replied, 'listen to the Scripture which prompts me to do this. Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies, as Isaias also had announced at some length, in whose words is included the mystery of the new birth, both of us and of all who look forward to the glorious coming of Christ in Jerusalem and strive in their every action to please Him. Here are the words of Isaias: "Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at His word. Say, our brethren, to them that hate and detest you, that the name of the Lord is glorified. He hath appeared in their joy, and they shall be confounded. A voice of clamor from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to the proud. Before she was in labor she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered she brought forth a male child. Who hath ever heard such a thing, or who hath seen the like to this? Has the earth brought forth in one day? And has she brought forth a nation at once? Because Sion hath been in labor and hath brought forth her children. But I gave this expectation even to her who does not bring forth, saith the Lord. Behold I have made her that begetteth and her that is barren, saith the Lord. Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and hold a joyous gathering, all you that love her. Be glad, all you that mourn for her, that you may suck and be filled with the breasts of her consolations; that having sucked out, you may be delighted with the entrance of His glory."'³