Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, and to the first epistle of St. Peter, and St. John. If Papias had been a wiser man, he had left us a confirmation of many more books of the New Testament.

CHAP. X.

JUSTIN MARTYR.

1. His history. II. His works, with extracts out of the Quæstiones et Responsiones ascribed to him. III. His testimony to the Scriptures of the New Testament, particularly the Gospels. IV. The Acts of the Apostles. V. St. Paul's Epistles. VI. The second Epistle of St. Peter. VII. The Revelation. VIII. Of Apocryphal Scriptures supposed to be quoted by him. IX. The sum of his testimony to the Scriptures of the New Testament. THE history of Justin may be collected partly from his own writings, partly from other ancient authors.

[ocr errors]

He was born in Flavia Neapolis, anciently called Sichem, a city of Samaria in Palestine. His father's name was Priscus, his grandfather's Bacchius.

He was early a lover of truth, and studied philosophy under several masters: first, under a Stoic, next a Peripatetic, then a Pythagorean, and lastly, a Platonic: whose principles and sentiments he preferred above all other, until he became acquainted with the christian religion, which he then embraced, as the only certain and useful philosophy.' Of his conversion to christianity he gives an account in his Dialogue with Trypho. All these particulars we have from himself.

C

[ocr errors]

Cave

The exact time of his conversion is uncertain. conjectures it happened about the year 132 or 133. Tillemont is of much the same opinion, who supposes he was born in 103, and was about thirty years of age when he embraced christianity, in the reign of Adrian, A. D. 133.

a

Apol. i. init. Paris. p. 55.

• Ταυτην μονην εὑρισκον

φιλοσοφίαν ασφαλη τε και συμφορον. p. 225. C. in Dial.

See Justin's Life, sect. v. in Lives of the Primitive Fathers, and Historia Liter. p. 36. d Mem. Ecc. T. 2. Part ii. Vie de Justin

M. Art. ii. Not. 1. et Art. v. Not. 4.

The course of his life after his conversion is thus briefly digested by Cave. In the beginning of the reign of Antoninus the pious he came to Rome, and in the year 140 presented his first Apology to that emperor. Afterwards he went into Asia, where he had the celebrated conference with Trypho the Jew; and then returned again to Rome, where he wrote his second Apology, inscribed to Marcus Antoninus the philosopher, and suffered martyrdom about the year 164. Tillemont is rather inclined to place his death in the year 167 or 168. Fabricius supposes he was born in 89, and suffered martyrdom in the 74th year of his age, A. D. 163. Grabeh is also of the same opinion about the time of his birth, and that his martyrdom happened in the year 163 or 165, the 74th or 76th year of his age.

i

k

Justin is mentioned by many ancient christian writers; by his disciple Tatian, by Irenæus, Tertullian, Methodius, Eusebius, Jerom, Epiphanius, Photius, and others. I shall put down some of their testimonies.

6

[ocr errors]

Tatian calls him an 'admirable man.' Methodius m says, he was a man not far removed from the apostles in time or virtue. Eusebius" says, he flourished not long after the times of the apostles. Photius says, he was well acquainted with the christian philosophy, and especially with the heathen; rich in the knowledge of history, ' and other parts of learning. But he took little care to set off the native beauty of philosophy with the orna'ments of rhetoric. For which reason his discourses, though weighty and learned, want those allurements which are apt to attract the vulgar.' He adds: Hep 'showed himself a philosopher not only in words, but in his actions, and his habits."

6

6

[ocr errors]

6

II. Eusebius, beside the accounts he had before given of Justin's books against Marcion, and all heresies, and his Apologies, gives also this distinct enumeration of his works. He says, that Justin left behind him a great number of very useful works, as his Apology to Antoninus 'the pious, and his sons, and the Roman senate, and another 'to his successor: a book against the Greeks [or Gentiles]: another book against the Gentiles, called Elenchus [or a

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[ocr errors]

• Confutation]: another of the Monarchy of God: another entitled Psaltes: of the Soul: a Dialogue against the Jews, which he had at Ephesus with Trypho. There are also,' says Eusebius, many other books of his, which are in the hands of the brethren.' Jerom's account of Justin's works agrees with this of Eusebius.

The principal works of Justin are his two Apologies, and his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, in two parts.

The first and larger Apology was addressed, as has been already hinted, to Titus Antoninus the pious, Marcus Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, the senate and people of Rome.t Tillemont and Grabe" think it was not presented to the emperor before the year 150. Cave says, in 140: Pagi and Basnage, in the year 139: Massuet, about 145. The Benedictine editors of Justin's works, in their preface, support Tillemont's opinion in a very plausible manner.

W

The Dialogue with Trypho was written not long after, and according to Pagi and Basnage, in 140; according to Massuet and the fore-mentioned Benedictines, about the year 155.

The second Apology seems to have been presented to Marcus Antoninus in the beginning of his reign, in the year 162.

The larger Apology is still extant entire. The beginning of the second Apology is wanting: as is the conclusion of the first, and beginning of the second part of the Dialogue with Trypho.

Beside these there are two discourses to the Gentiles, which are generally allowed to be Justin's: one called, An Oration to the Gentiles; the other, Пapaiveois, or, An Exhortation to the Gentiles, which is supposed to be the Elenchus mentioned by Eusebius.

The piece we now have of the Monarchy of God seems to be a fragment of the genuine work of Justin with that title.

The epistle to Zena and Serenus is at best doubtful, and I think not Justin's.

The epistle to Diognetus is generally supposed to be Justin's, though it is doubted of by some because the style is more elegant than that of his other pieces. For my own part, I cannot persuade myself to quote it as Justin's;

[blocks in formation]

any

since the style is allowed to be superior to his, and there is no mention made of it by Eusebius or Jerom. It would indeed be to my purpose to suppose it genuine, because it has more references to St. Paul's epistles than all the other works of Justin. But this is another exception, it not being very usual for Justin to express himself in the style of the New Testament, as this writer does. Nor can there be particular reason for it in this epistle, written to a Gentile, and not to a christian. And how can one pretend to ascribe to any author a small piece, not mentioned among his works by the ancients, different from the ordinary style of all his other allowed pieces, when there is no character in the title or conclusion to determine whose it is? Tillemont,a who is sensible the style is abundantly superior to Justin's, endeavours to prove it more ancient, and written before the destruction of Jerusalem. Those arguments are fully confuted by Basnage, who is willing to think the epistle genuine. The christians, before the writing of this epistle, had suffered several persecutions; which could not be said of them before Jerusalem was destroyed. It is an excellent epistle. And as, at the time of writing it, the christians were in a suffering condition, it must have been written before the reign of Constantine. I think, therefore, that the author of it is some anonymous ancient christian writer, whose age cannot be exactly settled. I shall quote him as such; and, after I have made my extracts out of Justin, show what testimony this writer bears to the books of the New Testament.

The Quæstiones et Responsiones ad Orthodoxos, and some other pieces usually joined with Justin's works, are allowed to have the marks of a later time.

It may not be improper however, for me to take notice of those Quæstiones et Responsiones, the work of a learned and laborious author.

Caved thinks him a writer of the fifth century. Du Pine observes, that some ascribe it to Theodoret: and he argues that the writer lived in the fifth or sixth century. Beausobre thought this work to be rightly ascribed to Diodorus of Tarsus. The Benedictine editors of Justin Martyr have examined this point with so much care, that their observa

a Le stile si magnifique et si eloquent de cette lettre s' elève beaucoup au dessus de celui de St. Justin. Vie de Justin, Art. 12. p. 371.

b A. D. 165. sect. ix.

c See Du Pin, Bibl. Basnage, as

above. d Vid. Cav. Hist. Lit. in Justin M. et Irenæ. et Conf. Dodwell, Diss. Iren. iii. n. 22. e Bib. Ecc. T. i. p. 58.

f Hist. de Manich. T. i. p. 288. n. (1.)

tions deserve to be briefly inserted here. They say, its is needless to prove it not to be a work of Justin, the thing is so evident. They think it probable that the author was a Syrian; which might lead us to Theodoret ; nevertheless, there are strong reasons against that supposition. In the end, they conclude the author to have been a Pelagian of that country in the fifth century.

In this work most of the writers of the New Testament are quoted, and particularly the four evangelists by name. In like manner the author quotes the epistle to the Hebrews, and the second epistle of Peter. He reckoned both the genealogies to be Joseph's, one of his natural, the other of his legal father. And he says, that both the writers of the genealogies, meaning Matthew and Luke, were Hebrews, and took their accounts from the public registers. As he supposed Luke to have been a Jew, it is likely that he did not think him to be the physician mentioned by the apostle Paul, Col. iv. 14.

It is beside my design to give any farther account of those works of Justin which are not extant: though every one must lament the loss of them; as his book against all heresies, which he particularly refers to in his first Apology; and his book against Marcion; and likewise that part of his book of the Monarchy of God, which is not extant; especially if he therein argued from the scriptures of the New, as well as of the Old Testament. The wordsm of Eusebius are, Of the Monarchy of God, which he proved, 'not only out of our scriptures, but also the books of the 'Gentiles.'

III. We are now to take a different method from what we have used with the apostolical fathers. For it is impossible to transcribe all the places of Justin, in which he has quoted the gospels in his Apologies and Dialogue, though always without expressly mentioning the names of the evangelists. I shall endeavour to take passages enough to show his manner of quoting.

8 Admonit. in Q. et R. p. 434-437. E. et passim, Ed. Bened.

h Qu. 99. p. 480. D

* Καθ ̓ ἁ φησιν ὁ αποςολος Πετρος εν τη δευτερα αυτό καθολική επισολή. Qu.94. p. 478. C.

k Vid. Qu. 131, 132, 133. Et Conf. Qu. 66. Vid. et Beaus. Hist. de Manich. T. 1. p. 354, 355.

Εβραιοι γαρ ησαν εξ Εβραίων, οἱ τας γενεαλογιας συγγραψάμενοι ευαγγε Aisal. Qu. 133. p. 491. E.

m Ην 8 μονον εκ των παρ ̓ ἡμιν γραφων, αλλα και εκ των ̔Ελληνικων συνιςησι βιβλιων. Η. Ε. p. 140. Α.

[blocks in formation]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »