and in the countenance also hath the nose reaching downward from the forehead, by which we are able to breathe. This again shows no figure but that of the cross. It is spoken also by the prophet, “ The breath before our nostrils is Christ the Lord.” 6 The signs also in use among yourselves show the force of the same figure/ [as in the instance of standards] and tro- phies, by which your progress is every where marked. In all these, ye show the true sign of authority and power, although ye do it ignorantly. Moreover by the use of the same figure, ye set up the figures of your deceased emperors, and denominate them gods, by the accompanying inscriptions. Having then thus exhorted you, to the utmost of our power, both by an appeal to your reason, and to these sensible signs, we know that we shall henceforth be blameless, even if ye believe not. For we have done our duty, and brought our work to an end. ^ 73. It was not sufficient, however, for the evil demons to declare, before the coming of Christ, that those sons, who have been spoken of, were born to Jupiter: but afterward, when Christ had appeared and dwelt with men, and they learned in what manner he was predicted by the prophets, and knew that men of all nations believed on him and expected him [to come again to judgment], they again raised up others, as we • Lament, iv. 20. wtvpa irpb vpoo&irov fipdv Xpttnbs K tfpioj. The Septuagint version now has Tcvzvpa rrpoowirov, “the breath of our nos- trils.” And the words are so quoted by Tertullian, Advcraus Marcion: iii. 6„ Advers. Praxeam. c. 14. Irenjeus, Adv. Hceres. Lib. iii. c. 11, p. 315. In the Apostolical Constitutions^ Lib. v. c. 20, the words are quoted in the same manner as by Justin. Tertuluan argues from this passage, that it was Christ, who spake by the n hets, and appeared at various times, before his coming in the . The mystical senses, which Justin and others of the Fathers have applied to this passage, depend upon the Greek version, in which is found Xpurrbs Ktiptos, and not Xpurrbs Kvplov, “the Anointed of the Lord by which term probably Zedekiah was meant.
A K al rd rap’ hpuv Si cvp(3oXa rf)v tov atf paros toStov Stvapuv SrjXoi*...XXuptv teal ruv rporatuv. — Some words are here lost. Among the different conjectures, that of Thirlby seems as probable as any: — SifXoi’ Xiyu Si rd rwv KaXovpfvwv nap' hptv oh^(XXu>v' teal rwv rpovatuv.
Notions of the same fanciful kind, respecting the universal use of the figure of the cross, are found in Mtnucius Felix, Octavius, c. 29, and in Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho, p. 317, 318, 332. He finds it exemplified, among other instances, in the horn of the unicorn!
180 THE APOLOGY OF [$74,75.
have before shown, as Simon and Menander from Samaria; * who by the display of magical arts deceived, and continue to deceive, many. For Simon being with you, as we have already said, in the imperial city of Rome, under Claudius Caesar, did so astonish the sacred senate and the people of Rome, that he was considered to be a god, and honored with a statue, even as the other gods who are worshipped among you. Where- fore we request that the ^acred senate and your people would join with you in considering this our address; that if there be any one who hath been seduced by his doctrine, he may learn the truth, and be able to avoid error: and, if it please you, destroy the statue.
74. For the evil demons can never persuade men that the wicked shall not be punished in fire; even as they were unable to cause Christ to be unknown, when he did come; but this only: they can cause those men who oppose right reason by their lives, and have been brought up in depraved habits of sensuality, and are puffed up with vain-glory, to destroy and hate us. Yet we not only bear no malice against these men, but, as is hereby manifest, pity them and endeavor to per- suade them to repentance. For we fear not death, since it is acknowledged that at all events we must die: and there is nothing new, f but a continual repetition of the same things in this life. And if they who partake of these delights are satiated with them in one year, they must surely hearken to our instruction, that they may live fqr ever, free from suffering and fear. But if they believe that there will be nothing after death, and are of opinion that they who die pass into a state of insensibility, then they act as our benefactors, in liberating us from sufferings and privations, while they yet show themselves to be influenced by hatred and enmity and vain-glory: for their object in thus removing us is not to relieve us from distress, but by our death to deprive us of life and all its pleasures.
75. The evil demons also, as we have already shown, raised up Marcion of Pontus, who even now continues to teach men to deny God the Creator of all things in heaven and earth, and Christ his Son, who was fore- JUSTIN MARTYR.
told by the prophets: and asserts that there is some other God, beside the Maker of all things, and also another Son. And many, believing his pretensions to be the only one acquainted with the truth, deride us, although they can produce no proof of what they assert, but contrary to all reason are hurried away, as lambs are by wolves, and become a prey to wicked doc- trines and to demons. For the demons, which we have spoken of, strive to do nothing else but to lead men away from Gon the Creator and Christ his first-begotten Son. Wherefore they have fixed and continue to fix down to earthly things and such as are made with hands, those men who cannot raise themselves from the earth: but as for those who turn to the contemplation of heavenly things, they mislead them, and cast them into ungodly living, unless they have a wise judgment, and lead a life of purity free from human passions.
- 76. Further, that you may be convinced that when Plato asserted, that God made the world by a change wrought in matter previously unformed, he was in- debted to our teachers, that is to the word of God delivered by the prophets, hear the very words of Moses, whom we have before mentioned as the first prophet, and more ancient than any writers among the Greeks. The prophetic spirit, declaring by him in what manner* and from what materials, God in the beginning made the world, spake thus:* “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed; and dark- ness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light;.and it was so.” h Wherefore Plato and they who agree with him, as well as we ourselves, have all learned that the whole world was made by the word of God, from what was related and made known by Moses; as ye also may be convinced. Moreover we know that what is called Erebus by the poets, was before spoken of by Moses.* 77. Moreover, when Plato discussing the physical nature of the Son of God, saith in his Timaeus, k “ He * The passage, to which Justin alludes, relates to the creation of the XT-- TXT THE APOLOGY OF impressed him upon the universe in the form of a cross,” he here also borrowed his assertion from Moses. For in the writings of Moses it is recorded, go that at the time when the Israelites came out of W Egypt, and were in the desert, venomous creatures, vipers and asps, and all kinds of serpents, met them, and destroyed the people: and that Moses by the inspiration and power which were given him from God, took brass, and made it into the form of a cross, and placed this upon the holy Tabernacle, and said to the people, “ If ye look upon this figure, and believe, ye shall be saved by it.” He related also, that as soon as this was done, the serpents perished and the people escaped death. Plato reading this relation, and not fully comprehending it, nor aware that it was a type of the cross, but conceiving only a division in that form, 1 said that the virtue which was next to the supreme God was impressed upon the universe in the form of a cross. And he spoke also of that'third quality, since, as we have already said, 01 he read what Moses related of the Spirit of God being carried over the waters. For he assigns the second place to the Word of God, whom he declares to have been impressed upon the universe in the form of a cross, and the third, to the Spirit, which is said to have been borne over the water, when he saith, “ And what is in the third place about the third.”* Hear also in what manner the prophetic spirit declared by Moses that there should be a destruction of all things by fire. For he spake thus; •• There shall go down an ever-living fire, and shall consume even unto the abyss beneath.”
78. It is not therefore that we hold the same opinions with others, but that all others speak in imitation of soul of the universe. TaiSrrjv o3v r^v ^irraatv ratrav, Sir\ijv card extras, p£<niv rods plffijv Uaripav AX olov X rpoafiaXdv, KarirauxLtw tls k6kXov. IHtiubus, Tom. 111. p. 36, b.
1 yfaff/ic, the form of the Greek fetter Chi, — X. “ Sect. 76.
* iUSs ydp^ fya* rspl rdv rdvruv fiawiXta rdvr* hrrL cal hulvov hrtxm v&rra' Kal bceivo alnov ixdvmv rdv caAwv* Seirtpov it ript, ri itfn»m % Kai rplrov ripi, ri rplra. Plato Epist. 2. Tom. III. p. 312; E. “ Por thus it is: wound the King of the universe are all things, and all things for him; and he is the cause of every good thing: and about the second are those which are in the second mace; and about the third timer Which are in the third place.’* $79.] JUSTIN # MARTYR.
ours. For with us information may be obtained upon these points, from those who have not received even the rudiments of learning, who, although unlearned, and speaking a strange language, 0 had wisdom and faith in their hearts: though some of them were lame and blind, so as to make it evident that these things were not done by human wisdom, but spoken by the power of God.
79. We will state also in what manner we are created anew by Christ, and have dedicated ourselves to God: that we may not, by omitting this, appear to dissemble any thing in our explanation. As many as are per- suaded and believe that the things which we teach and declare are true, and promise that they are determined to live accordingly, are taught to pray, and to beseech God with fasting, to grant them remission of their past sins, while we also pray and fast with them. We then lead them to a place where there is water, and there they are regenerated in the same manner as we also were: for they are then washed in that water in the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe, ^ and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. For Christ said, “ Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven * and that it is impossible, that those who are once born should again enter into their mothers’ wombs is evident to all. Moreover it is declared by the prophet Isaiah, as we have before written, in what manner they who sinned and repent may escape (the punishment of) their sins. For thus it is said; “ Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil from your souls; learn to do well; do justice to the fatherless, and avenge the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Even if your sins should be as scarlet I will make them as white as wool: and if they should be as crimson I will make them white as snow. But if ye will not hearken unto 0 ISiur&v piv teal $ap(3dpwv rd <p$(ypa. Irenajus, Adv. H<pres. Lib. Hi. c. 4, expresses the same sentiments: “Hanc idem qui sine literis crediderunt, quantum ad sermonem nostrum, barbsri sunt, quantum autem ad sententiam et consuetudinem, et conversationem, propter fidem perqu&m sapientissimi suht, et placent Deo, conversantes in omni justitiA et castitate et sapientia.” f John Hi. 3, 5.
184 THE APOLOOT OF [§80,81.
me the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things.” « 80. The apostles have also taught us for what reason this new birth is necessary. Since at our first birth, we were born without our knowledge or consent, by the ordinary natural means, and were brought up in bad habits and evil instructions/ in order that we may no longer remain the children of necessity or of igno- rance, but may become the children of choice and judgment, and may obtain in the water remission of the sins which we have before committed, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe is pro- nounced over him who is willing to be born again, and hath repented of his sins; he who leads him to be washed in the laver of baptism, saying this only over him: a for no one can give a name to the ineffable God; and if any man should dare to assert that there is such a name, he is afflicted with utter madness. And this washing is called illumination/ since the minds of those who are thus instructed are enlightened. And he who is* so enlightened is baptized also in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holt Spirit, who by the prophets foretold all things concerning Jesus.* 81. The demons also, who heard that this washing of baptism was predicted by the prophet, caused that those who entered into their holy places, and were about to approach them, to offer libations and the fat of victims, gg should sprinkle themselves. Moreover, they cause them to wash themselves, as they depart (from the sacrifice), before they enter into the temples where • The translation follows the reading proposed by Thirlby, alrd tovto pSvov ImXfyovros rod rbv \ovabusvov ayovrog ini ri \ovrp6v. They pronounced over the new convert tne name of the Pathf.r, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, according to the apostolical precept, Matt, xxviii. 19, but did not presume to give any other name to God, whose name is ineffable.
See note on Sect. 10.
1 <fH*Turp6f. Justin in Dial, eum Tryph. p. 258, A, uses the sam» snguage, <p*ri(6pcvoi Sid rod SvS/taros rdv Xptorov roSrov. Terms of a Jike import were constantly applied to baptism. Instances are given by Suicer, (Thesaurus,) on the word and Bingham, Eccles. Ant. XI. i. 4.
“ Justin resumes this subject in Sect 85.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
their images are placed. Again, the demons having learned what happened to Moses, the prophet of whom we have spoken, and wishing to imitate him, intro- duced the practice, that those who enter into their temples, and worship the gods there, should be ex- horted by the priests to loose their shoes from off their feet. For at the time when Moses was commanded to go down to Egypt, and lead out the people of the Israelites who were there, as he was feeding the flock of his mother’s brother,* in the land of Arabia, Christ, whom we worship, spake with him in the appearance of fire out of a bush, and said, “ Put off thy shoes, and come and hear.” J And he put off his shoes, and went; and heard that'he must go down to Egypt, and lead out the people of the Israelites who were there; and re- ceived grfeat power from Christ who spake with him in the appearance of fire. So he went down, and led out the people, and performed great and wonderful miraclfls; which, if ye wish to hear them, ye may learn perfectly from his writings.
82. Now all the Jews to this day, teach that God, who cannot be napied, spake to Moses.* Whence the prophetic sjflrit reproached them by Isaiah the afore- mentioned prophet, as we have already declared, thus eajjting^ “ ijfk ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters crib: but Israel doth not know me; and the grople doth not consider me.” Apd in like manner Jr sue Christ himself also said, upbraiding the Jews for that they kimw not what the Father is, and what the Son is: “ No ope knoweth the Father, but the Son; neither knoweth aify one tfie Son, bht the Father, and they t(T whomsoever the Son shall rdveal it.” a And the Word of G<*d is his^Sop, as we have <b6fqre said. He is called also the Angel, b (who declares,) and the Apostle, c (who is sent;) since he declares whatever is * Exod. iii. 1. Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses. Justin was perhaps led into the error by thinking of Jacob feeding the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother. Gen. xxix. 10; xxx. 39.
r Exod. iii. 5.
* Justin treats on this subject, in his Dialogue with TYypho, p. 283.
* Matt. xi. 27. This passage is quoted in the same manner in the next Section,— 9 83.
fe Exod. iii. 2. * Heb. iii. i, 2.
necessary to be known, and is sent to publish whatever is intrusted to him: as our Lord himself said, “He that heareth me, heareth him that sent me.” d This also will plainly appear from the writings of Moses. For in them it is thus said: “ And the Angel of the Lord spake unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the bush, and said, 1 am he who is; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers. Go down to Egypt, and lead out my people.” * Ye may learn what follows from the writings them- selves; since it is impossible to comprise every thing in the present address.
00 83. Now these words have been Spoken, to show that the Son of God, and Apostle, is Jesus Christ, who before was the Word, and appeared sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the imago of incor- poreal beings, but hath now by the will of God, and for the sake of mankind, been made man; and endured whatsoever the demons caused to be inflicted upon him by the senseless Jews: who, when they find it ex- pressly declared in the writings of Moses, “And the Angel of God spake to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush, and said, I am he who is; the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” f say that it was the Father and Creator of all things who so spake. Whence also the prophetic spirit reproached them, saying, “ But Israel doth not know me, and the people doth not consider me.”* And again Jesus, while he was with them, said, as we have already shown, “No -one knoureth thd Father but the Son: jitither knoweth Any one the $pn,,but the Father, and they to whomsofv&r the Son shall reveal it.” 11 The Jews, therefore, who alv^ys thought that it was the Father of all things who.spake to Moses, whereas he who spake to him wag the Son of God, who is also called the Angel and the Apostle, are justly upbraided both by the prophetic spirit, and by Christ himself, as knowing neither the Father nor the Son.' For they who say that the Son is the Father, are proved not to know the Father, nor that the Father of all things hAh * Isa. L 3. fc Matt, xl 27.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
a Son, who, being th,e first-begotten Word, of God, is also God. He also formerly appeared to Moses and the prophets in the form of fire, and of an incorporeal image: but now in the time of your empire, as we have already said, was made man, and bom of a virgin, according to the will of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe in him. He permitted himself also to be set at naught, and to suffer, that by dying and rising again he might conquer death. Moreover when he spake out of the bush to Moses, saying, “ 1 am he who is; the God of Abiaham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of thy fathers,” he intimated that they who were dead, did still exist and were men of Christ himself. For they were the first of all men who diligently sought after God, Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also hath recorded.
84. Ye may also, from what hath been already said, perceive, that it was in imitation of that which was written by Moses, that the demons caused to be placed by fountains of water, the statue of her who is called Proserpine, and said to be the daughter of Jupiter. For Moses said, in the words which have been already adduced, 1 “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth: and the earth was invisible and un- formed: and the Spirit of God moved upon the faf e of the waters.” They therefore said, that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, in imitation of the spirit of God, which was said to have moved over the water. By a similar perversion, they spake of Minerva as being the daughter of Jupiter, but not by natural generation. Blit having learned that God after deliberation made the world by the Word, k they spake of Minerva as the first Intelligence. Now this we consider most absurd, to carry about the image of Intelligence in a female form. In like manner, the actions of the others, who are called sons of Jupiter, prove what they really are.
85. We, then, after having so washed him who hath expressed his conviction and professes the faith, lead him to those who are called brethren, where they are gathered together, to make common prayers with great k See note on Sect. 34.
Google THE APOLOGY OF earnestness, both for themselves and for him who is now enlightened, and for all others ih all places, that having learned the truth, we may be deemed worthy to be found men of godly conversation in our lives, and to keep 'the commandments, that so we may attain to eternal salvation. When we have finished our prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. After which, there is brought, to that one of the brethren who presides, bread and a cup of wine mixed with water. 1 And he > Irenjeus, in like manner, speaks of the cup of the Eucharist, as consisting of wine mixed with water. He calls it Kucpdfuvov xorfipiov, ( Adv. Hceres. Lib. v. c. 2,) and speaks of our Saviour, who in his last supper declared the mixture of the cup to be his own blood: (** temperamentum calicis suum sanguinem declare vit:”) (Lib. iv. c. 57;) and, in describing the promise of our Lord that he would drink the fruit of the vine new with his disciples in his Father’s kingdom, (Matt, xx vi. 29,) he uses the expression, “H®c enim et Dominus uocuit, mixlionem calicis novam in regno cum discipulis habiturum se pollicitus.” (Lib. v. c. 36.)
Some early heretics, as part of the sect of the Ebionites and of the followers of Tatian, used water only in the administfktion of the Eucharist; whence they are opposed by Epiphanius {Hear. xlvi. Encrat. 4, 16,) who calls them Encratitce; by Augustin (De Hceres. 64,) under the appellation of Aquarii; and by Theodoret, (De Fab. Hceret. i. 20,) who styles them Encratitce and HydroparastaUe. Clemens Alexandrinus ( Stromat. i. p. 375. Psdagog. ii. 2. p. 177, ed. Potter) mentions the same error. An Epistle of Cyprian to Cscilius (Ep. 63, p. 148, ed. Fell) is directed against this practice. His argument is intended to prove, that wine is essential to the sacra- ment, and supposes that the cup, of which our Lord partook, con- tained water as well as wine.* He imagines that the union of water with the wine indicated a mystical union between the people and Christ, and that the absence of either substance dissolves thS union. It will be observed, that the object of Cyprian in this Epistle, is to show, not that the wine must be mixed with water, but that water alone did not represent sacramentally the blood of Christ. „ The third council of Carthagje, (Can. 24,) decreed that in fhe Eucharist the wine should be mixed with water. And many other early writers maintain the same opinion.
In the first Common Prayer-book of the Church of England, pub- lished by authority of Edward the Sixth, the Minister was directed by the rubric, when he put the wine into the chalice, (l to put thereto a little pure and clean water.” The same custom existed in the Anglo- Saxon Church. See Palmer’s Antiquity qf the English Ritual, c. iv. sect. 9.
Although, however, this custom is primitive and perhaps apostolical, and although it is probable that the cup which our Saviour conse- crated at the last supper did contain water as well as wine, according to the general practice of the Jews, (Maimonides, Lib. de Solennitate Pasch. c. 7,) yet it has been long decided by theologians that the JUSTIN MARTYR.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
having received them gives praise and glory to the Father of all things, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and gives thanks in many words for that God hath vouchsafed to them these things. And when he hath finished his praises and thanksgiving, all the people who are present express their assent, saying, Amen, which in the Hebrew tongue, implies. So be it. The President having given thanks, and the people having expressed their assent, those whom we call deacons give to each of those who are present a portion of the bread which hath been blessed, and of the wine mixed with water; and carry some away for those who are absent.
86. And this food is called by us the Eucharist, (or Thanksgiving:) of which no one may partake unless he believes that what we teach is true, and is washed in the laver, which is appointed for the forgiveness gg of sins and unto regeneration, and lives in such a manner as Christ commanded. For we receive not these elements as common bread or common drink. But even as Jesus Christ our Saviour, being made flesh by the Word of God,® had both flesh and blood for our salvation, even so we are taught, that the food which is blessed by the prayer of the word which came from him, by the conversion of which (into our bodily substance) our blood and flesh are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the Apostles, in the Memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have related that Jesus thus com- manded them; 0 that having taken bread, and given mixture of water is not essential to the sacrament. Cardinal Bona refers to Bernard, as speaking of those who considered water to be essential, but, he says, “The judgment of theologians is certain, that the consecration of tne elements is valid, even if water be omitted, although he who omits it is guilty of a grievous offence.” (Bona, Rer.
In our present rubric, although the mixture of water with wine is not enjoined, it is not prohibited.
This question is treated by Bingham, Eccl. Ant XY. ii. 7; Wheatley on the Common Prayer, c. vi. sect. 10, 5; Palmer’s.An- tiquity of the English Ritual, c. iv. sect. 9, and in a Dissertation by Vossius, Theses Theologicce, p. 494.
“ See note on Sect. 43, and Bp. Kaye’s Account of Justin Martyr^ ch. iv. p. 86, note 6.
n Matt. x*vi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19.
thanks, he said, “ Do this in remembrance of me: this is my body and that in like manner having taken the cup, and given thanks, he said, “ This is my blood and that he distributed them to these alone. And this too the evil demons have in imitation commanded to be. done in the mysteries of Mithra. For ye either know or may learn, that bread and a cup of water are placed in the rites appointed for the initiated, with certain prayers. After these Solemnities are finished, we after- ward continually remind one another of them. And such of us as have possessions assist all those who are in want; and we all associate with one another.
87. And over all our offerings, we bless the Creator of all things, through his Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. And, on the day which is called Sunday, there is an assembly in one place of all who dwell either in towns or in the country; and the Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as the time permits. Then, when the reader hath ceased, the President delivers a discourse, in which he reminds and exhorts them to the imitation of all these good things. We then all stand up to- gether, and put forth prayers. Then, as we have already said, when we cease from prayer,® bread is brought, and wine, and water: and the President in like manner offers up prayers and praises with hia utmost power * and. the people express their assent by saying, Amen. The consecrated elements are then distributed and received by every one; and a portion is sent by the deacons to those who are absent. qq 88. Each of those also, who have abundance and are willing, according to his choice, gives what he thinks fit: and what is collected is deposited with the President, who succors the fatherless and the widows, and those who are in necessity from disease or any other cause; those also who are in bonds, and the strangers who are sojourning among us; and in a word takes care of all who are in need.?
* The previous description was that of the first Communion after baptism: Justin here relates the ordinary celebration of the Eucharist.
9 Bp. Kaye, in his Account of Justin Martyr % p. 91, notices the alterations which had taken place in the mode of celebrating the com- munion between the time of the Apostles and that of Justin. The JUSTIN MARTYR.
89. We all of us assemble together on Sunday, because it is the first day in which God changed dark* ness and matter, and made the world. On the same day also Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. For he was crucified the day before that of Saturn: and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, he appeared to his apostles and disciples, and taught them what we now submit to your consider- ation.
90. If nofr what we have advanced appears to be reasonable and true, honor it accordingly; and if it appears folly, despise it as foolish, but pass not sentence of death against those who have done no evil, as if they were enemies. For we have already forewarned you, that ye shall not escape the future judgment of God, if ye continue in unrighteousness. And we shall exclaim, What God wills, let that come to pass. Although we might demand of you, from the epistle of the most great and illustrious Caesar Adrian, your father, that which we require, that ye should command right judgment to be made, we have yet preferred that this should not take place because it was so ordained by Adrian, but have made this address and explanation to you, know- ing that we demand what is just. And we have sub- joined also a copy of the letter of Adrian, that in this too ye may perceive that we speak the truth. The copy is as follows: THE EPISTLE OP ADRIAN RESPECTING THE CHRISTIANS.
TO MINUCIUS FUND ANUS.
We have received the letter written* to me by the most renowned Serenius Granianus whom you sue* ceeded. It seems then to me that the matter must not be left without inquiry; lest those men should be troubled, and a means of evil doing should be open to false accusers. If then the people in the provinces are able to advance so far in their accusations against the Christians, as to answer before the seat of judgment, chief of these was the separation of the time of partaking of the Eucharist from that of their ordinary meal.
THE APOLOGY OF let them have recourse to these means alone, and not act by vague accusations or mere clamor. For it is far better, if any one wishes to bring an accusation that yoo should examine it. If therefore any one accuses them, and proves that they have done any thing against the laws, dispose of the matter according to the severity of the offence. But I require you, if any man bring such a charge falsely, deal with him according to his deserts, and take care that you punish him.
THE EPISTLE OP THE EMPEROR ANTONINUS PIUS TO THE COMMON ASSEMBLY OP ASIA.* The Emperor Csesar, Titus JEIius Adrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Pontifex Maximus, fifteenth time Tribune, thrice Consul, Father of his Country, to the Common Assembly of Asia, sends greeting.
I am well assured, that the gods themselves will take heed that men of this kind shall not escape: for it is much more their interest to punish, if they can, those who refuse to worship them. Whereas ye trouble them, and accuse the opinions which they hold, as if they were Atheists: and bring many other charges, of which we are able to discover no proof. Nay, it would be in their estimation a great advantage to die for that of which they are accused: and they conquer you, by throwing away their own lives, rather than comply with what ye require them to do.