3. Trypho consented, and we then agreed to retire to theCatholic

J U S T I N O F F E R S T O D E F E N D

C H R I S T I A N B E L I E F

c h a p t e r 9 "My friend," I replied, "I pardon you, and may the Lord forgive you, for you don't know what you are saying; you have been instructed by teachers who are ignorant of the meaning of the Scriptures, and, raving like an oracle, you blurt out whatever comes into your mind. If you will agree to hear our account of him, how we have not been deceived by false teachings, and how we shall not cease to profess our faith in him (even though men thereby persecute us, and the most cruel tyrant tries to force us to deny him), I will prove to you, here and now, that we do not believe in groundless myths nor in teachings not based on reason, but in doctrines that are inspired by the Divine Spirit, abundant with power, and teeming with grace."

2. Trypho's companions once again broke out in such loud, rude, and raucous laughter that I got up and was ready to walk away. But Trypho seized me by my cloak and said he wouldn't let me go until I had kept my promise [to defend the Christians].

"Then, don't let your friends," I insisted, "cause such a commotion, or act so insultingly. If they wish, let them listen in silence, or, if they have something more important to do, let them depart; then we can go somewhere to rest and ﬁnish our conversation."

3. Trypho consented, and we then agreed to retire to the central space within the colonnade.1 Two of his friends, joking

1. See van Winden, 125 and 128.

Justin, Martyr, Saint. Dialogue with Trypho (Selections from the Fathers of the Church, Volume 3), edited by Michael Slusser, Catholic University of America Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/de

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st. justin martyr and making fun of our earnestness, went their way. When we came to that part of the stadium where there were stone seats on both sides, Trypho's other companions went to sit on the one side and after one of them had made a remark about the war waged in Judea, they spoke of it.2 c h a p t e r 10 When they had ﬁnished, I once again addressed them as follows: "My friends, is there any accusation you have against us other than this, that we do not observe the Law, nor circumcise the ﬂesh as your forefathers did, nor observe the Sabbath as you do? Or do you also condemn our customs and morals? This is what I say, lest you, too, believe that we eat human ﬂesh and that after our banquets we extinguish the lights and indulge in unbridled sensuality.3 Or do you only condemn us for believing in such doctrines and holding opinions which you consider false?"

2. "This last charge is what surprises us," replied Trypho.

"Those other charges which the rabble lodge against you are not worthy of belief, for they are too repulsive to human nature. But the precepts in your so-called Gospel4 are so marvelous and great that I don't think that anyone could possibly keep them. For I took the trouble to consult them.

3. "But this is what we are most puzzled about, that you who claim to be pious and believe yourselves to be different from the others do not segregate yourselves from them, nor do you observe a manner of life different from that of the Gentiles, for you do not keep the feasts or Sabbaths, nor do you practice the rite of circumcision. You place your hope in a cruciﬁed man, and still expect to receive favors from God when you disregard his commandments. Have you not read that the male who is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be eliminated from his people? 5 This

2. Van Winden's translation, p. 125.

3. For those standard accusations against Christians see 1 Apol. 26 (Barnard, 40–41, 139 n 188); Athenagoras, The Supplication for the Christians 3, Tertullian,

Apology 7; Minucius Felix, Octavius 9.6 and the translation by Clarke (cited above, Dial. 1.1 n 1), 65 and 220 n 121.

4. For "Gospel" see O. Piper, "The Nature of the Gospel according to Justin Martyr," JourRel 41 (1961): 153–68.

5. Gn 17.14.

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Justin offers to defend Christian belief

precept was for stranger and purchased slave alike. But you, forthwith, scorn this covenant, spurn the commands that come afterwards, and then you try to convince us that you know God, when you fail to do those things that every God-fearing person would do. If, then, you can give a satisfactory reply to these charges and can show us on what you place your hopes, even though you refuse to observe the Law, we will listen to you most willingly, and then we can go on and examine in the same manner our other differences."

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A N E W C O V E N A N T, N O T A N E W G O D

c h a p t e r 11 And I answered him, "Trypho, there never will be, nor has there ever been from eternity, any other God except him who created and formed this universe. Furthermore, we do not claim that our God is different from yours, for he is the God who, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, led your forefathers out of the land of Egypt.1 Nor have we placed our trust in any other

(for, indeed, there is no other), but only in him whom you also have trusted, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.

But, our hope is not through Moses or through the Law, otherwise our customs would be the same as yours.

2. "Now indeed, for I have read, Trypho, that there should be a deﬁnitive law and a covenant more binding than all others, which now must be respected by all those who aspire to the heritage of God. The law promulgated at Horeb is already obsolete, and was intended for you Jews only, whereas the law of which I speak is simply for all men. Now a later law in opposition to an older law abrogates the older; so, too, does a later covenant void an earlier one. An everlasting and ﬁnal law,

Christ himself, and a trustworthy covenant has been given to us, after which there shall be no law, or commandment, or precept.

3. "Have you not read these words of Isaiah: Hear me, listen to me, my people; and give ear to me, you kings: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall be a light to the nations. My justice

1. Dt 5.15.

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A new covenant, not a new God

approaches swiftly, and my salvation shall go forth, and nations shall have hope in my arm?2 And concerning this new covenant, God spoke through Jeremiah thus: Behold the days shall come, said the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: it will not be like the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.3

4. "If, therefore, God predicted that he would make a new covenant, and this for a light to the nations, and we see and are convinced that, through the name of the cruciﬁed Jesus Christ, men have turned to God, leaving behind them idolatry and other sinful practices, and have kept the faith and have practiced piety even unto death, then everyone can clearly see from these deeds and the accompanying powerful miracles that he is indeed the New Law, the new covenant, and the expectation of those who, from every nation, have awaited the blessings of God.

5. "We have been led to God through this cruciﬁed Christ, and we are the true spiritual Israel, and the descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, who, though uncircumcised, was approved and blessed by God because of his faith and was called the father of many nations.4 All this shall be proved as we proceed with our discussion." c h a p t e r 12 I cited this and added that Isaiah also proclaimed it in other words: Hear my words, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the assured mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people.l.l.l. Behold, nations who do not know you shall call upon you, and peoples that knew you not shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he has gloriﬁed you.5

2. Is 51.4–5. See Skarsaune, 358.

3. Jer 31.31–32. See J. Daniélou, The Theology of Jewish Christianity, trans. J. A.

Baker (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1964), 164–66; Skarsaune, 228–29, 329. See also Dial. 11; 24.1; 43.1; 51.3; 118.3; 122.5.

4. See Rom 4.9–10; R. Werline, "The Transformation of Pauline Arguments in Justin Martyr's Dialogue," HThR 92.1 (1998): 79–93.

5. Is 55.3–5 (non-LXX). See Skarsaune, 63–64, 187, 449.

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st. justin martyr 2. "This very law you have scorned, and you have made light of his new holy covenant, and even now you don't accept it, nor are you repentant of your evil actions. For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and your heart is hardened,6 Jeremiah has indeed exclaimed, but still you won't listen. The Lawgiver has come, and you do not see him; the poor have the gospel preached to them, the blind see,7 yet you do not understand.

3. "What you really need is another circumcision, though you prize that of the ﬂesh. The New Law demands that you observe a perpetual Sabbath,8 whereas you consider yourselves religious when you refrain from work on one day out of the week, and in doing so you don't understand the real meaning of that precept. You also claim to have done the will of God when you eat unleavened bread, but such practices afford no pleasure to the Lord our God. If there be a perjurer or thief among you, let him mend his ways; if there be an adulterer, let him repent; in this way he will have kept a true and peaceful Sabbath of God.

If anyone has unclean hands, let him wash them and be pure. c h a p t e r 13 "Indeed, Isaiah did not send you to the bath to wash away murder and other sins, which all the water of the ocean could not cleanse, but, as expected, it was of old, that bath of salvation which he mentioned and which was for the repentant, who are no longer made pure by the blood of goats and sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer, or by the offerings of ﬁne ﬂour, but by faith through the blood and the death of Christ, who suffered death for this precise purpose.9 So Isaiah himself shows in these words:

2. "The Lord shall bare his holy arm in the sight of all the Gentiles, and all the nations and the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that is from God. Depart, depart, depart,10 go out from hence, and touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be sanctiﬁed, you who carry

6. Not in Jeremiah, but in Is 6.10. See Daniélou, 79.

7. Mt 11.5; Lk 7.22.

8. Marcovich, 90, cites an apt parallel: Tertullian, Against the Jews 4.2.

9. See Heb 9.13–14.

10. Occurs only twice in the LXX.

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A new covenant, not a new God

the vessels of the Lord, for you shall not go out in a tumult. For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. Behold, my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted, and shall be gloriﬁed greatly.

3. "As many shall be astonished at you, so your form and your comeliness shall be despised by men; so shall many nations be astonished at him and kings shall shut their mouths; for they to whom it was not told of him, shall see: and they who heard not, shall understand. Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

We have announced him as a child before him, as a root in dry ground.

4. "There is no beauty in him or comeliness; and we have seen him and he has no form or beauty; but his form is dishonored, and more despicable than any of the sons of men. He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with inﬁrmity; because his face was turned away, he was despised and esteemed not. He has borne our inﬁrmities and carried our sorrows; and we esteemed him to be in pain, and under the stroke, and in afﬂiction.

5. "But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned aside into his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all; and he, because of his afﬂictions, does not open his mouth. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.

6. "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. But who shall declare his generation? For he is cut off out of the land of the living; for the wickedness of my people he came unto death. And I will give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death, because he has done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord wishes to purify him from afﬂiction. If he shall lay down his life for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed.

7. "And the Lord wills to take his soul away from trouble, to show him light, and to form him in understanding, to justify the Just One who serves many well. And he shall bear our sins; therefore he shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was delivered unto death; and he was reputed with the wicked, and he has borne the sins of many, and was delivered for their transgressions.

8. "Give praise, O you barren, who do not give birth; sing forth Justin, Martyr, Saint. Dialogue with Trypho (Selections from the Fathers of the Church, Volume 3), edited by Michael Slusser, Catholic University of America Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/de

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st. justin martyr praise, and make a joyful noise, you who were not in travail with child; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband. For the Lord has spoken: Enlarge the place of your tent, and of your curtains; ﬁx them, spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; stretch forth to your right and your left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities.

9. "Fear not because you have been ashamed; neither be confounded because you have been reproached; for you shall forget your everlasting shame, and you shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood, because the Lord has made a name for himself, and he who has redeemed you shall be called through the whole earth the God of Israel. For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and faint in spirit; as a woman hated from her youth.11 c h a p t e r 14 "Thus it is that we have believed through the baptism of repentance and knowledge of God, which was instituted for the sins of the people of God, as Isaiah testiﬁes, and we recognize that that same baptism which he announced, and which alone can purify penitents, is the water of life. The wells which you have dug for yourselves are broken and useless. For, of what value is that baptism which cleanses only the ﬂesh and body?

2. "Wash your souls free of anger, of avarice, of jealousy, and of hatred; then the whole body will be pure. This is the symbolic meaning of unleavened bread, that you do not commit the old deeds of the bad leaven.12 You, however, understand everything in a carnal way, and you deem yourselves religious if you perform such deeds, even when your souls are ﬁlled with deceit and every other kind of sin.

3. "Therefore, after eating unleavened bread for seven days,13 you were ordered by God to prepare new leaven for yourselves, that is, to practice other deeds, not to repeat your old sinful ones. To prove to you that this is what the new Lawgiver orders you to do, I will again cite the above-quoted passages, together with others which I omitted. Here is what Isaiah says:

11. Is 52.10–54.6. Skarsaune, 301: "Is. 53 was for Justin a saying on the paschal lamb, whose blood was applied to the believer in baptism."

12. See 1 Cor 5.8.

13. See Ex 12.18.

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A new covenant, not a new God

4. "Hear me and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a master to the Gentiles. Nations who know you not shall call upon you, and the people who know you not shall run unto you, because of your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has gloriﬁed you.

5. "Seek God, and when you ﬁnd him, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will obtain mercy, for he will abundantly pardon your sins. For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, nor are my ways as your ways; but as far removed as the heavens are from the earth, so far is my way removed from your way, and your thoughts from my thoughts.

6. "For as the snow or the rain comes down from heaven, and does not return until it waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth; it shall not return until it shall have accomplished all that I wished, and I shall make all my precepts turn out well.

7. "For you shall go forth with joy, and be taught with gladness. The mountains and the hills shall leap with joy as they look for you, and all the trees of the ﬁelds shall applaud you with their branches. Instead of the thorny bush shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the nettle, shall come up the myrtle tree. And the Lord shall be for a name and for an everlasting sign, and he shall not fail." 14

8. "Trypho," I exclaimed, "some of these and similar passages from the Prophets refer to the ﬁrst coming of Christ, in which he is described as coming in disgrace, obscurity, and mortality; other passages allude to his second coming when he shall appear from the clouds in glory; and your people shall see and recognize him whom they have cruciﬁed, as Hosea,15 one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel16 have predicted.

14. Is 55.3–13. See Dial. 12.1; Skarsaune, 63–64.

15. "Hosea" is a mistake for Zec 12.10. See Skarsaune, 77 and Barnard, 151 n 243.

16. Probably a reference to Dn 9.26 or 7.13. See Skarsaune, 88–90.

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