5. This refers to the death penalty to which every Christian was then liable,

Scriptural types of Jesus

death which is set apart for every Christian,5 you will have only yourselves to blame. And you are sadly mistaken if you imagine that, just because you are descendants of Abraham according to the ﬂesh, you will share in the legacy of beneﬁts which God promised would be distributed by Christ.

2. "No one can participate in any way in any of these gifts, except those who in their mind have been conformed to the faith of Abraham, and who approve of all the mysteries. For I say that some precepts were given for the worship of God and the practice of virtue, whereas other commandments and customs were arranged either in respect to the mystery of Christ

[or] the hardness of your people's hearts. To prove this, God says through the mouth of Ezekiel, If Noah and Jacob 6 and Daniel should make entreaty for their sons or daughters, it will not be given unto them.7

3. "And the same is stated in Isaiah, The Lord God said: And they shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, and their ﬁre shall not be extinguished, and they shall be a loathsome sight to all ﬂesh.8

4. "As men who have cut your souls off from this hope, it is necessary that you know how to obtain pardon of your sins and a hope of sharing in the promised blessings. There is no other way than this, that you come to know our Christ, be baptized with the baptism which cleanses you of sin (as Isaiah testiﬁed)9 and thus live a life free of sin."

5. This refers to the death penalty to which every Christian was then liable, solely because he was a Christian.

6. The LXX has "Job."

7. Ezek 14.20.

8. Is 66.23–24.

9. Is 1.16.

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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T H O S E W H O L I V E B Y T H E

L AW O F M O S E S

c h a p t e r 45 Trypho then interjected, "Although you insist that your arguments must be lined up in the order predetermined by yourself, permit me to interrupt you at this point to ask a very urgent question."

"Ask me," I replied, "whatever you please. Then, after such questions and answers have been disposed of, I will resume my discussion and try to complete it."

2. "Then tell me," he went on, "whether or not those who have regulated their lives according to the Mosaic Law shall live again together with Jacob, Enoch, and Noah in the resurrection of the dead?"

3. "My good man," I answered, "when I quoted Ezekiel to the effect that, Although Noah, Daniel, and Jacob should make entreaty for their sons and daughters, it will not be granted them, but each one should be saved by his own virtue,1 I also stated that those who obeyed the Mosaic Law would likewise be saved. They who are obliged to obey the Law of Moses will ﬁnd in it not only precepts that were occasioned by the hardness of your people's hearts, but also those that in themselves are good, holy, and just.

4. "Since they who did those things that are universally, naturally, and eternally good are pleasing to God, they shall be saved in the resurrection, together with their righteous forefa1. Ezek 14.20, 18, 14.

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Those who live by the Law of Moses

thers, Noah, Enoch, Jacob, and others, together with those who believe in Christ, the Son of God, who existed before the morning star and the moon,2 yet deigned to become Incarnate, and be born of this virgin of the family of David, in order that by this dispensation he might conquer the serpent, that ﬁrst sinner, and the angels who followed his example,3 and that he might thwart death and bring it to an end, so that, at the second coming of Christ, it would no longer have any power over those who believe in him and live according to his principles. Then, some will be sent to the judgment and sentence of ﬁre, to be punished eternally, while others will dwell with [God] free from suffering, corruption, sorrow, and death." c h a p t e r 46 "But," inquired Trypho, "if some even now desire to live in observance of the precepts of the Mosaic Law, and yet believe that the cruciﬁed Jesus is the Christ of God and that to him it has been given to judge without exception all men, and that his kingdom is eternal, could they also be saved?"

2. "Let us examine this together," I replied, "and see whether anyone is able now to observe all of the Mosaic precepts."

"No," he answered, "for we recognize, as you said, that it is impossible to sacriﬁce the paschal lamb anywhere else, or to offer the goats required for the fast, or to present all the other oblations.'

"Then tell me yourself," I begged, "some of the commandments which can be observed. Then you could be convinced that, though a man has not practiced or observed your socalled eternal precepts, he can quite certainly be saved."

"We can keep holy the Sabbath," answered Trypho, "be circumcised, observe the months, and wash ourselves after touching something forbidden by Moses or after sexual relations."

3. "Then," I asked, "do you think that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Job, and all the others before or after them who also were good people, like Sarah the wife of Abraham, Rebecca the wife of Isaac, Rachel, the wife of Jacob, Leah, and the other

2. See Ps 109 (110).3.

3. Rv 12.9; 1 Jn 3.8.

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st. justin martyr women like them, down to the time of the mother of Moses the faithful servant—all of whom did not observe these laws, will be saved?"

Trypho replied, "Were not Abraham and his posterity circumcised?"

4. "I know," I agreed, "that Abraham and his posterity were circumcised. But I have already stated at great length why circumcision was enjoined upon them. If what I have said has not embarrassed you, let us examine the matter again. You know well that not one of those just men who lived before the time of Moses observed, or was ordered to observe, any of the precepts now under discussion, with the exception of circumcision, which began with Abraham."

"That we know," he answered, "and we agree that they were saved."

5. "You also know," I continued, "that, because of the hardness of your hearts, God imposed all such commandments upon you through Moses, in order that, by observing these many precepts, you might have him constantly before your eyes and refrain from every unjust or impious act. Thus, he commanded you to wear a red ribbon as a constant reminder of him;4 and for the same purpose he ordered you to wear the phylactery,5 made up of very thin pieces of parchment upon which were inscribed what we consider truly sacred letters. By these very ordinances he urges you to have God always in mind and, at the same time, his judgment.

6. "Notwithstanding this reminder, you still continued to practice idolatry. In the times of Elijah, when God was enumerating those who had not genuﬂected to Baal, he could count only seven thousand.6 And in Isaiah he scolds you for having sacriﬁced your children to idols.7

7. "But we Christians, because we refuse to offer sacriﬁce to 4. See Nm 15.38–41.

5. See Ex 13.9, 16. The phylactery, tefellin, was a small box containing parchments on which were written in Hebrew the following texts: Ex 13.1–16; Dt

6.4–9; 11.13–21. During prayers, this box was attached to the left arm or forehead by means of leather straps.

6. See 1 Kgs 19.18; Rom 11.4.

7. Is 57.5.

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Those who live by the Law of Moses

those whom we formerly worshipped, suffer the most severe punishments, and even rejoice in enduring the death penalty, because we believe that one day God will raise us up again through Christ and will make us free forever from corruption, pain, and death. And we are positive that the precepts imposed upon you on account of your people's hardness of heart are in no way conducive to acts of justice and piety." c h a p t e r 47 "But," Trypho again objected, "if someone knows that what you say is true, and, professing Jesus to be the Christ, believes in and obeys him, yet desires also to observe the commandments of the Mosaic Law, shall he be saved?"

"In my opinion, Trypho," I replied, "I say such a man will be saved, unless he exerts every effort to inﬂuence other men (I have in mind the Gentiles whom Christ circumcised from all error) to practice the same rites as himself, informing them that they cannot be saved unless they do so. You yourself did this at the opening of our discussion, when you said that I would not be saved unless I kept the Mosaic precepts."

2. "But why," urged Trypho, "did you say, 'In my opinion such a man will be saved?' There must, therefore, be other

Christians who hold a different opinion."

"Yes, Trypho," I conceded, "there are some Christians who boldly refuse to have conversation or meals with such persons. I don't agree with such Christians. But if some, due to their instability of will, desire to observe as many of the Mosaic precepts as possible—precepts which we think were instituted because of your hardness of heart—while at the same time they place their hope in Christ, and if they desire to perform the eternal and natural acts of justice and piety, yet wish to live with us Christians and believers, as I already stated, not persuading them to be circumcised like themselves, or to observe the Sabbath, or to perform any other similar acts, then it is my opinion that we

Christians should receive them and associate with them in every way as kinsmen and brethren.

3. "But if any of your people, Trypho, profess their belief in Christ, and at the same time force the Gentiles who believe in 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 Christ to observe the Law instituted through Moses, or refuse to share with them this same common life, I certainly will also not approve of them. But I think that those Gentiles who have been induced to follow the practices of the Jewish Law, and at the same time profess their faith in the Christ of God, will probably be saved.

4. "Those persons, however, who had once believed and publicly acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, and then later, for one reason or another, turned to the observance of the Mosaic

Law, and denied that Jesus is the Christ, cannot be saved unless they repent before their death. The same can be said of those descendants of Abraham who follow the Law and refuse to believe in Christ to their very last breath. Especially excluded from eternal salvation are they who in their synagogues have cursed and still do curse those who believe in that very Christ in order that they may attain salvation and escape the avenging ﬁre.

5. "God in his goodness, kindness, and inﬁnite richness considers the repentant sinner to be just and innocent, as he declared through the prophet Ezekiel,8 and the one who turns from the path of piety and justice to follow that of injustice and impiety God judges to be an impious and unjust sinner. Thus has our Lord

Jesus Christ warned us, In whatsoever things I shall apprehend you, in them also shall I judge you." 9

8. See Tit 3.4; Eph 2.7; Ezek 33.12, 18–19. See Daniélou, 104–5; Skarsaune, 127–28.

9. These words are not found either in the Old or the New Testament and constitute an agraphon. Clement of Alexandria (Quis dives salvetur? 40.2) also cites this saying. See A. J. Bellinzoni, "The Source of the Agraphon in Justin

Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, 47,5," VigChr 17 (1963): 65–70; A. Baker, "Justin's agraphon in the Dialogue with Trypho," JBL 87 (1968): 277–87; "Agrapha,"

EECh, s.v.

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T H E M E S S I A H M U S T B E J E S U S

c h a p t e r 48 "We have now heard your opinion on these matters," interposed Trypho. "Resume your discourse where you left off, and bring it to an end, for it seems to me to be entirely absurd and utterly incapable 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 me to be not only paradoxical, but preposterous."

2. "I am aware," I 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, preexisted as the Son of the Creator of the universe and became man through a virgin.

3. "But 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 I have been wrong.2 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.

4. "For, my friends, there are some of your race,3 who ac1. See Is 29.13; Mk 7.7.

2. See Trakatellis, 14.

3. Some earlier editors emend this to "our race"; either way, Justin may have

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