The first apology of Justin Martyr, addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius : prefaced by some account of the writings and opinions of Justin Martyr online

same illustration of a fire which Justin had used ; he dis-
tinguishes, however, between the words " to divide " and
" to cut off," w^hich Justin has used indifferently. The in-
ference apparently intended to be drawn from the comparison
with a fire is, that the substance of the Father was not
divided in consequence of the generation of the Aoyos. The
intent of the subsequent illustration, taken from the human
voice, is less clear, and the illustration itself open, perhaps, to
some objection. It is also used by Justin.^

It will be observed that Tatian calls the Aoyos the beginning
of the universe, tovtov tV/xei/ tov KoafJiov rrjv 0Lpx>jv- This title
I conceive to have been derived from Prov. viii. 22: "The
Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His
works of old," which is twice * quoted by Justin in proof of
the generation of the Word to create the world ; though he
does not apply the title dpxrj to the Ao'yos. Bull supposes
Tatian to have meant by the word apxq the idea and exemplar

1 P. 44. 2 Vol. iii. p. 270.

3 Dm/, p. 284 B. " Dm/, pp. 2S4 D, 359 A.



I20 Sojue Ac count of the

of the universe, which was always present to the Deity ; and
thus in one sense it might be said that the universe was
present to the Deity before the creation ; in its dpx^j ^^ P^^^"
ciple, or idea, that is, in the Adyo9.i If this was Tatian's
meaning, we must allow that he has expressed it very im-
perfectly ; yet I seem to discover more traces of the influence
of Gentile philosophy on his language and opinions than on
those of his master Justin.

Let us proceed to Athenagoras. Defending the Christians
against the charge of atheism, he says : ^ "I have sufficiently
shown that we are not atheists ; we who hold one God, Un-
begotten, Eternal, Invisible, not subject to suffering, incompre-
hensible, not circumscribed by place, conceived only by the

^ "Sed et hoc voluit significare Tatianus, Deo ante conditum mundum
etiam ipsum quodammodo mundum praesentem fuisse ; quum ipsi revera
prsesens fuerit h Xeyos mundi principium, qui et idea est et exemplar, sive
ars divina, qua Pater universa, quum voluit, molitus est." Def. Fid. Nic,
sect. iii. c. 6.

2 TO f/,iv ovv olSioi yM iivai, tvec. tov wyivvfi-rov x.u) oi'ioiov xa) dopocrov kki d.'ffa.dyt
Koc) UKCcruXTtTrov kou a^up'/irov, vZ fAoveo ko) koyeo xKre6Xecf/,[ixvoiu,ivov, <pur) kou

KCuXXll KOil TViVf/,Oiri KO,] CVVoifiU aViX^tViyrtTM '^ipiS^Of/.lVOV, V<p' OU yiyiViJTCCI TO

'Xa,'/ OK/, TOV avTov Xoyov koc) diec.pitK6(rf/.yiTa.t xou o'vyxpoinTroii, @iov clyovTsg^ iTcavw:
f^oi Oid'axrut. voovf^iv yap xot,) vlov tov Qiov' xu) f/,n fjt,oi yiXoTov ris vofiitrtj to
v'lov uvai TM QiM. ol yxp, ojs toititou fA.v&o'Trotouo'iv, olicilv fhiXTiov; Tuv d.vSpu'Truv

OUXVVVTiS Tohs hohs, « Tip) TOV @S0V xou TOCTpo;, n Tip) TOV v'lOV Ti(PpOV'^XOifiiv'

akX EffTiv vteg tov Qiov Aoyo; tov TocTpo;, Iv IVia xoc) Ivipyi'ia,, Tpo; uItoZ yocp
xcc) at avTou tolvto, iyiviTo, Ivo; ovtos tou TXTpo; xoc) tov vlov' ovto; 2j tov viov

IV TO!,Tpi, XOCt TOtTpOS iV Vlifl, iVOT'/JTt XOU OVyiX,fjl,il TViVfjt-OiTOi' VOV; XOi) AoyoS TOV
TUTpo;, ViOi TOV &iOV. it §£ ^i' VTipP>oX7lV ffVv'ifflOJS ffXOTilV VfJUV STilfflV TOUi Tl
(iovXiTOil, ipcu OlOi (ipU^iav' TpUTOV yBVVn/U,Bi iJvOU TM 'TXTp), OV^ us yiVOfiiVOV (1^

appf^fis yap o &io;, vovs atotos «v, £/;^sv ocvtos iv Iocutm tov koyov, cotdiu; Xoytxo;
&v) kXX u? tuv vXixuv ^vf/,-7ra.vTuv, ccToiov (pvcnus xou yyi? (f. oToioc; (pvffiu; xoc)
yivov$) o^noci vToxitfjcivuv oixyiv, fMf/,iyf/,ivuv tuv Toc^vfUffTipuv Tpo; TO, xov(poTipoi
It avToT;, toioc xou Ivipyiioc ilvou TpoiX6uv. ffwaon oi tu Xoycu xcc) to TpoipyiTtxov
Tviufjcoc, Kvpios yocpf (pyiff)v, 'ixTiffi /u,i, ctp^hv o^uv ccvtov its 'ipyoc ocvtov. xoc) toi

xou CCVTO TO iVipyOVV TOli \x(^OiJ\OV(ri Tpotpyj-IXu; ecyiOV TViVfiOC, ocToppoiocv ilVOCI

(pocfjcn TOV kdioZ, ccToppiov xoc) £T«v«^£^«^jVflv, u; cIxtIvoc nX'iov, Leg, p. 10 A.



Writings of Jttstin Martyr,



121



mind and reason, surrounded by ineffable light and beauty,
the Spirit and Power, by Whom, through His Word, every-
thing was made and adorned and is preserved. We acknow-
ledge also a Son of God; and let no one think it ridiculous
that there should be a Son of God. For we deem not of God
and the Father, or of the Son, as the poet's fable, who repre-
sent the gods as no better than men. The Word of the
Father is the Son of God, in idea and operation. For by
Him and through Him were all things made, the Father and
the Son being one : the Son being in the Father, and the
Father in the Son, by the unity and power of the Spirit. The
Mind and Word of God is the Son of God."

" But if you (O Emperors), through the excellence of your
understanding, are desirous to inquire what the Son means, I
will briefly explain myself. He is the First-begotten to the
Father, not as if made (for from the beginning God, being the
eternal Mind, had within Himself the Word or Reason, being
from eternity rational), but as if proceeding forth to be the
idea and operating cause of all material things, of whatever
nature and kind, which are subjected as a vehicle to Him, the
denser parts being mixed with the lighter. The prophetic
Spirit agrees with what I say : ' The Lord,' He says, ' formed
me the beginning of His ways to His works.' Though we
also say that the Holy Spirit, Who works in those who speak
prophetically, is an emanation from the Deity, flowing forth
and reflected as a ray of the sun."

In another passage,^ Athenagoras says to the Emperors

^ 'i^oiTi a'lp' letVTuv koc) tviv iTovpdviov [iaa'ikiia.v l^irdi^uv, as yap vfAtv, farpi
Ka) VIM, Tfdvra Ki^upurxi, cUvcahv rhv [iaffiXiiccv il'kn(poin (fiairtXicari yap ^v^y> iv
p(;iip) @ioZ, <pti(r) TO •7rpo(p'/iTi}cov 'TTvivpt.a) ovras h) rw @tu kki ru "Trap avrov Xoyiu,
VIM voovf^iVM df/^ipiffro), Tavra, v9rorirx}cxi. LcgatlO, p. 17 D. We find in
p. 15 C, ?ravra ya.p Qio; itrriv avros ocutui, (pZs ocTTpocrirov, KOff^oi rsXno;,
-rviZf^a, IvvKfii?, Xoyos. "For God Himself is all things in Himself,
inaccessible light, a perfect world, a spirit, power, the Word."



122 Soj7ie Account of the

whom he is addressing, "You may estimate the heavenly
empire by your own ; for as all things are subject to you,
father and son, who have received the empire from above (for
the prophetic Spirit says that the soul of the king is in the
hand of God, Pro v. xxi. i), so all things are subject to one
God and to His Word, Who is conceived to be the Son,
inseparable from Him."

In the former of these passages we find the subsistence of
the Adyos from eternity in a state of intimate union with the
Father expressly declared ; and though Athenagoras does not
use the term, yet, as Bull has observed,^ he evidently had in
his mind the notion, which was afterv/ards conveyed by the
term irepLXf^prja-ts or Circumincession ; a word designed to
express the mutual penetration, if I may so express myself,
of the three Persons of the Trinity — the entireness of their
union. We find also the notion that the Adyog was the idea
or exemplar of all created things ; and that He was begotten
in order to be the agent in the work of creation. Still we
find mention only of a temporal generation. The illustration
contained in the second passage has been noticed by Gibbon : ^
he calls it profane and absurd, and says, with a sneer, that it
has been alleged without censure by Bull. But the object of
Athenagoras in employing it was, not to explain the mode
of subsistence of the Father and Son, but to show that the
monarchy, as it was termed, — the unity of the divine govern-
ment, — was not infringed by the distinction of Persons in
the Godhead. Bull produces the passage in order to clear
Athenagoras from the charge of Sabellianism ; and undoubtedly
a Sabellian would not have used the illustration. Such, how-
ever, are the difficulties inherent in the very nature of the
subject, that it is scarcely possible for a writer so to guard
his expressions as not to be open to cavil. How apt soever

' De/. Fid. Nic. sect, iv, c. 4.
^ Chap. xxi. note 50,



Writings of Justin Martyr. 123

an illustration may be in one point of view, it may be most
inapplicable in another, and lead to most inconvenient
consequences.

Let us now consider the language of Theophilus. Speaking
of the prophets, he says ^ : " First they taught us with one
consent that God made all things out of nothing. P'or nothing
was contemporaneous with God. But He being His own
place, and wanting nothing, and existing before the ages,
willed to make man by whom He might be known. For him,
therefore, He prepared the world. For he that is created
stands in need (of another) ; but He that is increate wants
nothing. God, therefore, having His own Word internal
within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting Him in conjunc-
tion with His wisdom before all things. He had this Word as
His minister in the work of creation, and by Him He made
all things. He is called the beginning, because He is the
commencement and ruler over all things created by Him.
He therefore being the Spirit of God, and the beginning, and
the wisdom, and the power of the Most High, descended into
the prophets, and through them spake of the creation of the
world and of all other things. For the prophets were not

oh yap 71 Tu &iu /rvv^Kf/^ocg-tv' aXX' ulro; lavTOu TOTToi uv, xa.) avivdihs cdv,
xa) v'pripi^wv <ffpo Tuv cciMvuv, ridiXn<Tiv avSpuTrov 'pfoinffcii <u yyuffdri. tovtw ovv
7rpoy]retf/.BC(n rov KO(rfJt,ov. o yap yivnros xai TpoffoiYis ictiv o ot ayiv/iTo; ovoivog
7tpo(r^i7rai. 'i^cuv ovv o %ioi tov lavrou Xoyov Ivoiahrov sv roT; loioi; tr-rXay^vois
iysvv/^tnv alrov, [/.ira tyis lavroZ ao^lai l^ipiv^a^ivos 'VpQ tmv oXuv. tovtov <rov
Xoyov tiTvsv vTovpyov tcov vt avrou yiysvyjf^iVMV, xai oi avrov Ta 'Tfavra
•^iTTo'iy^xiv' ovTos Xiyirai ap^h, on eip^n xa) xupnvii '^dvT&iv tuv di avrov
ti^yi/Movpy/if^ivav. ovtos oZv uv -xviviJt.a @sou, xa) ap^y;, xa) o-o(pia, xa) duvaf/.ii
v'^iffTou xKT^ppf^iTo SIS Tov; 9rpo(p^Tas, xa) oi' alruv iXaXu ra Tip) T>is Toinffiu;
TOV xofffiov xa) Tuv Xoi<7ruy a'Tfavruv. oh yap VK/av ot -^poip'/iTai on o xofffioi
lyivsTo, aXXa vi ffo(pia h Iv ahraj ovffa h tov &sov, xa) o Aoyog o ayto$ avrou o au
ffVf^-TTapuv ahrw. L. ii. p. 88 B. In p. 92 D, we find h lidrali; ovv TOV 010V
tovt'o iffTtv, X'oyos ahrov ^alvuv atf^ip Xv^vo; k. t. i. The creation IS Ol

God, His Word appearing as an illumination," etc. See p. 93 B.



124 Some Account of the

when the world was made ; but the Wisdom of God Who was
in Him, and His Holy Word Who was always present with
Him."

In another passage ^ he says : " For the sacred Scripture
represents to us Adam saying that he heard the voice (of
God) ; but what else is the voice than the Word of God, Who
is His Son ? Not as the poets and writers of fables talk of the
sons of gods born from intercourse with women, but as the
truth represents the Word, always internal in the heart of
God. For before anything was created, God had Him as His
counsellor, being His mind and intelligence ; but when God
willed to create what He had designed, He begat this Word
to go forth, to be the first-born of all creation ; not being
Himself emptied of the Word, but having begotten and always
conversing with the Word."

Here again we find the notion of the subsistence of the
Word from eternity in a state of most intimate union with
God, and of His subsequent generation to create the world.
We have observed that Theophilus is the earliest Christian
author in whose writings the word " Trinity " occurs ; he is
the first also who distinguishes expressly between the Adyos
ei/Sia^eros and Trpo^optKos, the internal and emitted Word.
Theophilus also, like Tatian, applies the title o.pyy] to the
Adyo9 with a particular reference to Proverbs viii. and
Genesis i.^

a,}C7ix,oocvot,i' (puvn o\ rt uWo iffr^v a.XX h o Aoyog o tov @ioi!, o; lim fca.]
vios avTov, oh^ u; ol "pfoinTcci kou f/.v$o'ypoc(poi Xiyovtnv vtovg 6iuv ix, ffvvovffiois
yivvu/jcsvovs' akXa ug a,\yt6ita ^i^^yiTTSii, tov Xoyov, tov ovtcc ^iocttocvto; Ivoid^iTov
IV Kocphta @ioZ. Tpo yccp Ti y'lyviff^ai, tovtov ux,- (fVfJi-^ov'kov^ la-vTov vovv xai
tppovyia'iv ovTcx.. o'^'oTi oi yj^iX'/iinv o 0£oj Totl^ffoii ococ IfsovXivffccTo, tovtov tov Xoyov
iyivvyiffi 'rpo(popiKOV, TTpaJTOTOKOV 'TtaffYii aTiffiu;, ol xivouhts ccvtos tov Xoyou, aXXa
Xoyov yivvYiffoci^ kou tm X'oyu ccvtou ^iccpravTos o/mXcov, L. ii. p. lOO A.

'â– ^ P. 88 D. So in p. 92 B. iv ocp^yi \<7roin<Tiv &-o; TOV ovpecvov, TovTsff-i,



Writings of Justin Martyr. 1 2 5

P. 46, note 3. I have observed in this note that, because
Justin speaks of the world as created out of matter without
form, we must not, therefore, suppose him to have main-
tained the eternity of matter. The Benedictine editors are
extremely anxious to clear him from the suspicion of having
entertained such an opinion, and with this view refer to
passages in the Hortatory Address to the Gentiles. But having
already declared my doubts of the genuineness of that tract, I
cannot rely upon the passages quoted from it. As, however,
Justin's instructor applauds him for saying, in opposition to
the Platonists, that the world was not eternal,^ we may reason-
ably infer that he did not maintain the eternity of matter.

If we turn to Tatian, we shall find him expressly affirming
that matter had a beginning : " For matter is not without
beginning as God is, and thus it is not equal in power to God.
For it is created and was begotten by no other, but was emitted
by the sole Creator of all things." ^

Athenagoras, in like manner distinguishing between the

^/« rvii apx/i; yiyivnT^cci tov ovpavov, actSui s^^-zj^sv 'hihnXM-AiM/A. In a descrip-
tion of the Deity, p. 71 A, we find the following remarkable passage : li
yap (pu? ahrov u-ffa, 'Jtoivi[ji.a. uhroZ Xsyu' il X'oyov ii'^u, ap^/iv oclrou Xiyw' vovv
Iccv i'l'Tfci), (ppov'/jtriv alroZ Xiyu' 'Tt^nvf/.a. locv ii'ttm^ u^oc^Monv kutov Xiyu' ffoipiocv
lav u^co, yivvyjfia ahrov Xiyu' lir^vv lav sJViy, x,pdro; alrou Xiyea' ovvai^iv lav
UTTa), Ivipyuav ahrov kiyeo' "TTfovoiav lav uttu, ayaSoawnv ahrov "kiyu' (iacriXiiav
iav SfTTu^ oo^av avrou Xiyco xvpiov tav ii^rtu, lavrov Kiyu -TCaripa lav it'^w, ra
Tavra ahrov Xiyu' TTvp iav il-Ttu^ rhv opyhv ahrov Xiyoj, See also p. 'J^Y) ',

1. iii. p. 122 D.

' Dial. p. 223 A. See Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisfne, 1. 5, cc.

2, 4, 5-

" P. 145 C. He had just before said of the Aoyo$, ahro; lavrZ rhv vXyiv
hfiiovpy^a-as, "He created matter by Himself." In another place he
says that all matter was sent forth or emitted by God ; some of it to be
considered as being without form before a separation had taken plnce,
some as being adorned and reduced to order after the separation, p. 151
A. See Beansobre, 1. 5, c. 5.



126 Some Account of the

divine nature and matter, says that the former is increate
and eternal, the latter created and corruptible : ro \jXv yap

uetov ayevrjTOV elvat kol atSiov, v<2 pAvm koI A-oyoj Oewpov/JL^vov
r-qv hk vXrjv yevqrrjv kol cfiOapTi^v} In another place he says
that God and matter differ as widely from each other as the
artisan and the materials upon which he employs his art.^

Theophilus says expressly that God produced all things from
a state of non-existence into a state of existence : to. TrdvTa 6
©eos iTroLY](T€v ii ovk ovtmv eis to etvat.^ In another place he
asks, "What mighty power do we ascribe to God, if we say
that He made the world out of subject-matter ? An artisan, if
materials are given him, makes what he chooses. But the
power of God is displayed in this — that He makes what He
chooses out of nothing." * He afterwards says that, according
to the scriptural representation, God made the world out of
matter which had been produced by Him.^

^ Legatio^ p. 5 B. So p. 23 A. X-Affoixiv Ixv-rov: iTony.ov T>)v vXyiV rhv
<p6ot,pryiv KBi) pivCTYiv x.u) ^;t«/3X»5T^v tw ayiw/irco, ko.) ct-tdtco, ica,) otw^avro;

ffvfKpMvtk) -Troiovvri? ®iw. We will pass over that. " Matter which is cor-
ruptible, fluctuating, and changeable, is held in equal honour with the
Unbegotten, eternal God, who always works consistently."

2 ii Ti onffTcia-iv {vXvi xoc) Qios) •zaf/.ToXv a^' aXX'^kav, kcc) TO(rou'rov oirov

Ti^VITriS KO,] h "Tpo; T>)V Tl^V'/IV CCVTOV Tro.pctlT-H.lV'n X«' h TXv'Si^h; vXyj CtViV TOV

&iov rod onfMovpyov oiKKpitrtv xa) a^yj/xa x,c/a Kotry-ov ovk iXa,y,(!)aviv. "But if
they (matter and God) differ wholly from each other, not only in their
Creator, but in the manner of their creation, and the all-embracing matter
did not receive individuality, and form, and shape, without God the
Creator." P. 14 D. Beausobre justly remarks that this passage is not
irreconcileable to a belief in the eternity of matter. L. 5, c. 5.

'^ L. i. p. 72 A. Compare p. 75 A. L. ii. pp. 88 B, 92 B.

■* t/ 01 fj(,iya, u o ©soj s§ ii'/foKUf/Avyis vXvi; Itoiu tov Kocrf^ov ; x,cc) yap Ti^virr,s
Kv^puTos, I'Pfocv vXr,v Xdfh'A etTo rivo;, l| ayrjjj oV« (iovXtrcci "ttoisi. @iou oi n
dvv(tfi,ii Iv Tovroo (peivipovToHf 'iva If ovk ovtuv 'Pfotri offot, fiovXiTCH, L. ii.

p. 82 c.

TCcvTcc Iv TpuTOt; QiOa.axu n ^s/a ypu.(^Yt TpoTtu Tiv) tiXriv yiv/iTyiv uto tov Qiou
ytyovviUVf a,(p^ ^; vi'^or/iKi kcc] ^i^yifjt,tovpyr,xiv o 0=o; tov KOfffiov, p. 89 A.



Writings of Justin Martyr. 127

P. 46, note 4. The word otKovofxta is used by Tatian, but
not with any reference to the gospel dispensation. In a
passage quoted in note 6, p. 116, he says that whatever is
only divided takes its part in the economy, otKoi/o/xta^ rrjv
aip€cnv TrpocrXa^ov. In another place he speaks of those
who trust to the economy of matter, v\y]<; olKovofxta, meaning
those who ascribe the cure of diseases to combinations of
matter ; ^ and when he is ridiculing the astrologers, he calls
the constellations the dispensers of fate, ri}? €t/>iap/>teVry§ oIko-
vojJLov;.^

Athenagoras uses the word in a sense which bears a nearer
resemblance to that in which I have supposed Justin to use
it. Speaking of the assumption of the human form by the
heathen deities, he says, " Although God assumed the flesh
according to the heavenly economy, yet it is a slave to
lusts." ^

Theophilus, speaking of earthly monarchs, says that " they
are not made to be worshipped, but to receive appropriate
honour ; for they are not gods, but men appointed by God,
not to be worshipped, but to give righteous judgments, — for
they are in a manner entrusted with an administration by
God." * He says, on another occasion, that no person is able

^ P. 157 B. In p. 151 B, Tatian speaks of the human body as being
fAias oixovof/.ici;, "of One economy ; " and shortly after we find hroffftuv
ot»ovoju,ia, " the economy of the inwards," and xar' otx,ovof/.iae,y o-vfi^avia,?,
"unison according to economy." Speaking of those writers who turned
the heathen mythology and the Iliad into allegory, he says that they
introduced the Greeks and barbarians as contending x^P'^ otxavof^tx^, " for
the sake of economy," p. i6o B.

2 Pp. 149 B, 150 A. ^ Legatio, p. 21 D.

^ 'on ovx. u; to 'TtfotrKWiiffSai yiyoviv, aXXa us to Ti/nciff^cci rJj vof^ifiM Tt/u-ri.
©jflj yap ouK iffTiv, oiXXa, civSfUTto; v^o &iou Tiray/Aivos, ovx us to ^poffKVVtTa-^ai,
akXei u; to '^ix.xicos xpivuv TfiO'TM yap rivt <xapa &iov oixovofiiav 'TiTio'TiuTai,

L. i. p. 76 D.



128 Some Account of the

worthily to explain the whole economy of the six days of
creation.^ He says also that the disposition of the stars in the
work of creation contains the economy and order of just and
pious men, who observe the commandments of God ;2 and in
alluding to the narrative in Scripture respecting Cain and
Abel, he talks of the economy of the narrative, r^v olKovoixtav

P. 48. Tatian gives the title of God to Christ, and calls
Him, in one instance, the God Who suffered ; * in another,
God Who appeared in the form of man.^

Athenagoras also gives the title of God to the Son ; ^ and
Theophilus, referring to John i. i, says expressly that the Word
is God.7

P. 52. Bull, speaking of the TTcpix<^p'qo-i<^, or circumin-
cession of the three Persons in the Trinity,^ says " that some
of the ancients also ascribe a 7rcpi;^cop7;o-ts to the two natures in
Christ ; but that in so doing they do not speak accurately.
For since Tr€pLX(^p7}(n<s, in its strict sense, is the union of things
entering in all respects into each other (which is signified by
the preposition Trepl), irr order to justify the use of the term, no

i L. ii. p. 91 B. 2 p ^4 D 3 p, 105 B.

* He is speaking of the Holy Spirit, Whom he calls rov ^ixxovov rov ^i-rov-
60TOS Qiou, " the Minister of the suffering God," p. 153 A.

s @iov iv a.v$pu<rou /^op(p^ yiyovUxi xarciyyiXXovris, "proclaiming that God
appeared in the form of man," p. 159 C. In another passage he calls
upon the heathen to renounce the demons, and to follow the only God, to
Whom he applies what St. John (i. 3) says of the Aiyo; ; " All things were
made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made," aXka. Tapxtrti-
ffafiivoi Tovi oecifiova; @im ru fiovco xaTOixoXov^^^trxri- Toivroi vtt ahnroVy kou ^up)s
ecurou yiyoviv ov^i sv, p. 1^8 D.

•5 See the first passage quoted in p. 113.

^ 0£O5 ovv uv Aoyos xou Ix @iov m^vKu?^ L. ii. p. 100 C.

^ Def. Fid. Nic. sect. iv. c. 4.



W7Htings of Jttstin Martyr. 129

one of the things so united should be without or beyond the
other ; but wheresoever one of them is, there the other should
also be. But in Christ, though the divine nature enters in
every respect into the human, the human does not in turn
enter into the divine ; for the human is finite and limited,—
the divine infinite and unlimited ; so that the human cannot
be wheresoever the divine is." There is, in other words, a
perfect 7reptx(o/D>;o-65 of persons in the divine nature, but not a
perfect Treptx^P^o-tg of natures in the person of Christ. Still,
according to Bull's view, Justin is correct in saying that the
divine nature pervaded, or perfectly entered into the human.

Justin puts into the mouth of the old man who converted
him to Christianity, the following question : " What, then, is
our relationship to God ? Is the soul divine, and immortal,
and a part of that royal intelligence ? avrov Ikuvov rov jSaaiXiKov
vov fxepos/' Dial. p. 22 1 E. So Tatian, p. 146 C, says that man
obtains immortahty by partaking of a portion of God. ©eov
fxoLpav. See Beausobre, lib. 6, c. 5.

That partial insight into the truth, which the Gentile poets
and philosophers possessed, and which, according to Justin,
they obtained through their participation in the Aoyo?, is
traced by Athenagoras to what he terms their " sympathy with
the breath of God." TvoirjraX filv yap koI (faXocrocfiOL, COS Kol rots
aXXois iire/SaXov o-ro;i(acrTt/cco9, Kivrj6evTC<i [xkv, Kara (rvjxTrdOeLav
Tr]s irapa rov 0€ou ttvo^s, vtto ttJs (a^Tos) avTOv ij/v)(7]^ €KaaTo<;
t,y]Tr}crai, el Swaros evpecv koX vorja-ai ttjv dXrjOeLav' toctovtov 8e
Svv7]0ivT€<5 ocrov TrepLvorja-ai, ovx evpyjVTat ov (f. 0€w) ov irapa
©eoO a^twcraj/res /JLaOeiv, dXXa Trap' avrov e/cao-ros. Legatio^
p. 7 D.

P. 53. We have seen ^ that Athenagoras calls the Holy
Spirit an emanation from God, flowing forth and reflected like

^ Leg. p. 10 D, quoted in note 2, p. 120.
E



130 Some Account of the

a ray of the sun. In another place he says that the Holy
Spirit is an emanation, as light from a fire.^ Justin, on the
contrary, in speaking of the generation of the Son, expressly
censures those who compared it to the emission of a ray from
the sun, and uses the illustration of a fire Hghted from
another fire.^ We have here another instance of the difficulty
of bringing forward, on this mysterious subject, any illustration
to which an objection may not be made. Justin's illustration
better conveys the notion of a distinction of persons ; that of
Athenagoras, the notion of an unity of substance. But they
who are disposed to raise cavils will say that the former tends
to Tritheism ; the latter to Sabellianism.

I have observed that Theophilus speaks explicitly of a
Trinity ; ^ and, as it should seem, of a real Trinity — a Trinity
of Persons. Yet we find him speaking of the Spirit of God as
surrounded or confined by the hand of God ; * and saying
that the Spirit of God, Which moved on the face of the
waters in the work of creation, was given by God in order to
vivify it, as the soul is given to man.^ Justin, as we have seen,^
supposed the Spirit of God, in the first chapter of Genesis, to
be the Holy Spirit, — an apphcation of the passage to which