22. And again after a pause I went on, "Do you not now see,

st. justin martyr and ﬁre from the Lord out of heaven. And he destroyed those cities, and all the surrounding country."23

22. And again after a pause I went on, "Do you not now see, my friends, that one of the three, who is both God and Lord, and ministers to him who is in heaven, is Lord of the two angels? When they went on to Sodom, he stayed behind and talked with Abraham, as Moses testiﬁed. Then he went his way after his conversation, and Abraham returned to his place.

23. "And when he came to Sodom, it was no longer the two angels, but he himself who talked with Lot, as is evident from the Scriptures. He, indeed, is the Lord who was commissioned by the Lord in heaven, that is, the Creator of all things, to inﬂict those dreadful punishments upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which are described in the Scriptures in this fashion: The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and ﬁre from the Lord out of heaven."24 c h a p t e r 57 And when I stopped talking, Trypho said, "Evidently the Scripture compels us to agree with you on this. But you must admit that our perplexity is justiﬁed at those words which describe how the Lord ate the food which was prepared and presented to him by Abraham."25

2. "Scripture indeed says," I replied, "that they ate. But, if we heard it said that the three ate, and not the two only, who were in reality angels and were evidently fed in heaven, though not with the same kind of food that humans consume (for, in speaking of the manna which your forefathers ate in the desert, the Scriptures say that they ate the food of angels),26 then I would say that when the Word asserts they ate, it is to be understood in the same way as when we say that ﬁre devours everything, but not in the sense that they ate by chewing the food with their teeth and jaws. Thus, if we are in a slight way familiar with the use of ﬁgurative modes of expression, even in this Scriptural passage there should be nothing puzzling to us."

23. Gn 19.16–26. See Smit Sibinga, 27.

24. Gn 19.24. See Smit Sibinga, 69–70.

25. See Gn 18.18.

26. Ps 77 (78).25. See Skarsaune, 106.

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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The unity of God and the divinity of Christ

3. "It is possible," conceded Trypho, "that your explanation of the different ways of eating would be of service concerning the statement about the mode of consumption of the food set before Abraham's guests. So proceed, now, to prove how this

God who appeared to Abraham, and ministered to the Creator of the universe, was born of a virgin, and became a man, as you claim, suffering like all others."

4. "Before I produce the proof that you ask, Trypho," I said, "permit me to offer you some additional arguments on the topic under discussion, that you also may be persuaded about it."

"Go ahead," he replied, "for that will be very agreeable to me." c h a p t e r 58 "I intend to quote Scripture to you," I said, "without any reliance on mere artistic arrangement of arguments. Indeed, I have no such skill, but this grace alone was given me from God to understand his Scriptures, in which grace I invite everyone to share freely and abundantly, lest I should be held accountable at the judgment which God, the Creator of the universe, shall hold through my Lord Jesus Christ."

2. "In doing so," said Trypho, "you surely show true piety toward God, but when you say that you have no talent in the rhetorical arts. I suspect that you are just dissembling in this matter."

"If you think so," I replied, "we will not argue the point, but I still feel that I spoke the truth. Be that as it may, if you will give me your undivided attention, I'll present the remaining proofs."

"Proceed," he said.

3. "My brothers," I went on, "Moses states in Scripture that he who is termed God, and who appeared to the patriarchs, is also called Angel and Lord, in order that by these expressions you may recognize him as the minister of the Father of all things, which you have already admitted, but which through additional arguments you shall believe more ﬁrmly.

4. "The Word of God, as recorded by Moses, speaks of Jacob, grandson of Abraham, in the following manner: And it came to pass at that time that the sheep conceived; I saw them with my eyes in a 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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