 IV. CHAPTERS 56-68 THE DEMON STILL MISLEAD MEN. But the evil spirits were not satisfied with saying, before Christ's appearance, that those who were said to be sons of Jupiter were born of him, but after he had appeared and been born among men, and when they learned how he had been foretold by the prophets, and knew that he should be believed on and looked for by every nation, they again, as was said above, put forward other men, the Samaritans, Simon and Menander, who did many mighty works by magic, and deceived many, and still keep them deceived. For even among yourselves, as we said before, Simon was in the royal city Rome in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and so greatly astonished the sacred senate and the people of the Romans, that he was considered a god, and honored, like the others whom you honor as gods, with a statue. For we pray that the sacred senate and your people may, along with yourselves, be arbiters of this our memorial, in order that if any one be entangled by that man's doctrines, he may learn the truth, and so be able to escape error, and as for the statue, if you please, destroy it. CHAPTER 57 AND CAUSE PERSECUTION Nor can the devils persuade men that there will be no conflagration for the punishment of the wicked, as they were unable to affect that Christ should be hidden after he came. But this only can they affect, that they who live irrationally, and were brought up licentiously in wicked customs, and are prejudiced in their own opinions, should kill and hate us, whom we not only do not hate, but, as is proved, pity and endeavor to lead to repentance. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged that we must surely die, and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things, and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free, both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted, for they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure. Chapter 58 And Raise Up Heretics And as we said before, the devils put forward Marcian of Pontus, who is even now teaching men to deny that God is the maker of all things in heaven and on earth, and that the Christ predicted by the prophets is his son, and preaches another God besides the creator of all, and likewise another son. And this man many have believed, as if he alone knew the truth, and laugh at us, though they have no proof of what they say, but are carried away irrationally as lambs by a wolf, and become the prey of atheistical doctrines and of devils. For they who are called devils attempt nothing else than to seduce men from God who made them, and from Christ his first begotten, and those who are unable to raise themselves above the earth they have riveted and do now rivet to things earthly, and to the works of their own hands, but those who devote themselves to the contemplation of things divine they secretly beat back, and if they have not a wise sober-mindedness, and a pure and passionless life, they drive them into godlessness. Chapter 59 Plato's Obligation to Moses And that you may learn that it was from our teachers, we mean the account given through the prophets, that Plato borrowed his statement that God, having altered matter which was shapeless, made the world, hear the very words spoken through Moses, who, as above shown, was the first prophet and of greater antiquity than the Greek writers, and through whom the spirit of prophecy signifying how and from what materials God at first formed the world spake thus, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved over the waters, and God said, let there be light, and it was so, so that both Plato and they who agree with him and we ourselves have learned, and you also can be convinced that by the word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken of before by Moses, and that which the poets call Erebus, we know was spoken of formerly by Moses. Chapter 60 Plato's Doctrine of the Cross And the physiological discussion concerning the Son of God in the Timoyus of Plato, where he says he placed him crosswise in the universe, he borrowed in like manner from Moses, for in the writings of Moses it is related how at that time, when the Israelites went out of Egypt and were in the wilderness, they fell in with poisonous beasts, both vipers and asps, and every kind of serpent which slew the people, and that Moses, by the inspiration and influence of God, took brass and made it into the figure of a cross, and set it in the holy tabernacle, and said to the people, if ye look to this figure and believe ye shall be saved thereby, and when this was done it is recorded that the serpents died, and it is handed down that the people thus escaped death, which things Plato reading and not accurately understanding, and not apprehending that it was the figure of the cross, but taking it to be a placing crosswise, he said that the power next to the first God was placed crosswise in the universe, and as to his speaking of a third he did this because he read, as we said above, that which was spoken by Moses, that the spirit of God moved over the waters, for he gives the second place to the logos which is with God, who he said was placed crosswise in the universe, and the third place to the spirit who was said to be born upon the water, saying, and the third around the third. And hear how the spirit of prophecy signified through Moses that there should be a conflagration. He spoke thus, everlasting fire shall descend and shall devour to the pit beneath. It is not then that we hold the same opinions as others, but that all speak in imitation of ours. Among us these things can be heard and learned from persons who do not even know the forms of the letters, who are uneducated and barbarous in speech, though wise and believing in mind, some indeed even maimed and deprived of eyesight, so that you may understand that these things are not the effect of human wisdom but are uttered by the power of God. CHAPTER 61 Christian Baptism I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ, lest if we omit this we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then received the washing with water. For Christ also said, except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mother's wombs is manifest to all, and how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Isaiah's the prophet, as I wrote above, he thus speaks, wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from your souls, learn to do well, judge the fatherless and plead for the widow, and come and let us reason together, sayeth the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool, and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if ye refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. And for this right we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training, in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe, he who leads to the labor the person that is to be washed, calling him by this name alone. For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God, and if anyone dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness. And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Ghost, who through the prophets foretold all things about Jesus, he who is illuminated is washed. CHAPTER 62 IT'S IMMITATION BY DEMONS And the devils, indeed, having heard this washing published by the prophet, instigated those who enter their temples, and are about to approach them with libations and burnt offerings, also to sprinkle themselves. And they cause them also to wash themselves entirely, as they depart from the sacrifice, before they enter into the shrines in which their images are set. And the command, too, given by the priests to those who enter and worship in the temples that they take off their shoes, the devils, learning what happened to the above-mentioned prophet Moses, have given in imitation of these things. For at that juncture, when Moses was ordered to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites who were there, and while he was tending the flocks of his maternal uncle in the land of Arabia, our Christ conversed with him under the appearance of fire from a bush, and said, Put off thy shoes and draw near and here. And he, when he had put off his shoes and drawn near, heard that he was to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites there, and he received mighty power from Christ, who spoke to him in the appearance of fire, and went down and let out the people, having done great and marvelous things, which, if you desire to know, you will learn them accurately from his writings. And all the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spake to Moses, whence the spirit of prophecy, accusing them by Isaiah the prophet mentioned above, said, The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know me, and my people do not understand. And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews knew not what the Father was and what the Son, in like manner accused them, and himself said, No one knoweth the Father but the Son, nor the Son but the Father, and they to whom the Son revealeth him. Now the word of God is his Son, as we have before said, and he is called angel and apostle, for he declares whatever we ought to know, and is sent forth to declare whatever is revealed, as our Lord himself says, he that heareth me, heareth him that sent me. From the writings of Moses also this will be manifest, for thus it is written in them. And the angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of the bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers, go down into Egypt and bring forth my people. And if you wish to learn what follows, you can do so from the same writings, for it is impossible to relate the whole here. But so much is written for the sake of proving that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and his apostle, being of old the word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels. But now, by the will of God, having become man for the human race, he endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless Jews to inflict upon him, who, though they have it expressly affirmed in the writings of Moses, and the angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire in a bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yet maintain that he who said this was the Father and Creator of the universe. Wintz also, the spirit of prophecy, rebukes them, and says, Israel doth not know me, my people have not understood me. And again Jesus, as we have already shown, while he was with them, said, No one knoweth the Father but the Son, nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal him. The Jews, accordingly, being throughout of opinion that it was the Father of the universe who spake to Moses, though he who spake to him was indeed the Son of God, who is called both angel and apostle, are justly charged, both by the spirit of prophecy and by Christ himself, with knowing neither the Father nor the Son. For they who affirm that the Son is the Father are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son, who also, being the first begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old he appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets, but now in the times of your reign, having, as we before said, become man by a virgin, according to the council of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe on him, he endured both to be set at naught and to suffer, that by dying and rising again he might conquer death. And that which was said out of the bush to Moses, I am that I am, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, and the God of your fathers, this signified that they, even though dead, are yet in existence, and are men belonging to Christ himself. For they were the first of all men to busy themselves in the search after God, Abraham being the Father of Isaac and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses wrote. Chapter 64 Further Misrepresentations of the Truth From what has been already said, you can understand how the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proser Pinae was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Coray, i.e. the maiden or daughter, at the spring heads. For as we wrote above, Moses said, in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and unfurnished, and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In imitation, therefore, of what is here said of the spirit of God moving on the waters, they said that Proser Pinae, or Coral, was the daughter of Jupiter. And in like manner also they craftily feigned that Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter, not by sexual union, but knowing that God conceived and made the world by the word, they say that Minerva is the first conception in Noia, which we consider to be very absurd, bringing forward the form of the conception in a female shape. And in like manner the actions of those others who are called sons of Jupiter sufficiently condemned them. But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized, illuminated person, and for all others in every place that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water, and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at his hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying amen. This word amen answers in the Hebrew language to jenoito, so be it. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water, over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. CHAPTER 66 OF THE EUCHORIST And this food is called among us Eucharistia, the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined, for not as common bread and common drink do we receive these, but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of his word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them, that Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks said, this do ye in remembrance of me, this is my body, and that after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, he said, this is my blood, and gave it to them alone, which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn. CHAPTER 67 WEEKLY WORSHIP OF THE CHRISTIANS And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things, and the wealthy among us help the needy, and we always keep together, and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits, then when the reader has ceased, the President verbally instructs and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the President in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen. And there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well-to-do and willing give what each thanks fit, and what is collected is deposited with the President, who suckers the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and, in a word, takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world, and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead, for he was crucified on the day before that of Saturn, Saturday, and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Son, having appeared to his apostles and disciples, he taught them these things which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. CHAPTER 68 CONCLUSION And if these things seem to you to be reasonable and true, honor them. But if they seem nonsensical, despise them as nonsense, and do not decree death against those who have done no wrong, as you would against enemies, for we forewarn you that you shall not escape the coming judgment of God if you continue in your injustice. And we ourselves will invite you to do that which is pleasing to God. And though from the letter of the greatest and most illustrious Emperor Adrian, your father, we could demand that you order judgment to be given as we have desired, yet we have made this appeal and explanation, not on the ground of Adrian's decision, but because we know that what we ask is just. And we have subjoined the copy of Adrian's epistle, so that you may know that we are speaking truly about this, and the following is the copy. I have received the letter addressed to me by your predecessor Serenius Gronianus, a most illustrious man, and this communication I am unwilling to pass over in silence, lest innocent persons be disturbed, and occasion be given to the informers for practicing villainy. Accordingly, if the inhabitants of your province will so far sustain this petition of theirs as to accuse the Christians in some court of law, I do not prohibit them from doing so. But I will not suffer them to make use of mere entreaties and outcries, for it is far more just if any one desires to make an accusation that you give judgment upon it. If therefore any one makes the accusation and furnishes proof that the said men do anything contrary to the laws, you shall adjudge punishments in proportion to the offences, and this by Hercules you shall give special heed to, that if any man shall, through mere columny, bring an accusation against any of these persons, you shall award to him more severe punishments in proportion to his wickedness. Epistle of Antoninus to the Common Assembly of Asia The Emperor Caesar Titus Elius Adrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Supreme Pontiff, in the fifteenth year of his tribuneship, consul for the third time, father of the fatherland, to the common assembly of Asia, greeting. I should have thought that the gods themselves would see to it that such offenders should not escape, for if they had the power, they themselves would much rather punish those who refuse to worship them. But it is you who bring trouble on these persons, and accuse as the opinion of atheists that which they hold, and lay to their charge certain other things which we are unable to prove. But it would be advantageous to them that they should be thought to die for that of which they are accused, and they conquer you by being lavish of their lives rather than yield that obedience which you require of them. And regarding the earthquakes which have already happened and are now occurring, it is not seenly that you remind us of them, losing heart whenever they occur, and thus set your conduct in contrast with that of these men, for they have much greater confidence towards God than you yourselves have. And you indeed seem at times to ignore the gods, and you neglect the temples, and make no recognition of the worship of God. And hence you are jealous of those who do serve him, and persecute them to the death. Concerning such persons, some others also of the governors of provinces wrote to my most divine father, to whom he replied that they should not at all disturb such persons unless they were found to be attempting anything against the Roman government. And to myself many have sent intimations regarding such persons, to whom I also replied in pursuance of my father's judgment. But if any one has a matter to bring against any person of this class merely as such a person, let the accused be acquitted of the charge even though he should be found to be such and but let the accuser be amenable to justice. Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the Senate, in which he testifies that the Christians were the cause of his victory. The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the people of Rome, and to the sacred Senate, greeting. I explained to you my grand design, and what advantages I gained on the confines of Germany, with much labor and suffering, in consequence of the circumstance that I was surrounded by the enemy, I myself being shut up in Carnuntum by seventy-four cohorts, nine miles off. And the enemy being at hand, the scouts pointed out to us, and our general Pompeianus showed us that there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of nine hundred seventy-seven thousand men, which indeed we saw, and I was shut up by this vast host, having with me only a battalion composed of the first, tenth, double, and marine legions. Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to the vast mass of barbarians and of the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians, and having made inquiry I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming, for afterwards I learned their power. Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons nor arms nor bugles, for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the god they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists have god as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience. Having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me, but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. For during five days we had got no water, because there was none, for we were in the heart of Germany and in the enemy's territory. And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground and praying to God, a god of whom I am ignorant, water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer, a god unconquerable and indestructible. Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. And I counsel that no such person be accused on the ground of his being a Christian. But if any one be found laying to the charge of a Christian that he is a Christian, I desire that it be made manifest that he who is accused as a Christian, and acknowledges that he is one, is accused of nothing else than only this that he is a Christian, but that he who arraigns him be burned alive. And I further desire that he who is entrusted with the government of the province shall not compel the Christian who confesses and certifies such a matter to retract, neither shall he commit him. And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate, and I command this my edict to be published in the forum of Trajan in order that it may be read. The prefect Vitrasius Polio will see that it be transmitted to all the provinces round about, and that no one who wishes to make use of or to possess it be hindered from obtaining a copy from the document I now publish. End of Part 4. End of the First Apology by Justin Martyr. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.