An alternative theory of | Justin Martyr and the Eusebian fiction postulate
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Justin Martyr |
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JUSTIN MARTYR: (c. 100-165): Saint, Martyr, a foremost Christian Apologist. A Gentile ex-Pagan of Samaria, turned Christian, and supposed to have suffered martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, in whose name he forged a very preposterous rescript. His principal works, in Greek, are his two Apologies, the first addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, whose reply he also forged; the second to "the sacred Senate" of Rome; his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, and his Hortatory Address to the Greeks. He describes himself and fellow Christian Fathers as "we who formerly used magical arts." (I Apol. ch. xiv.) The burden of his arguments is Pagan "analogies" of Christianity, the contents of many of his chapters being indicated by their captions, as "The Demons Imitate Christian Doctrine," and "Heathen Analogies to Christian Doctrine," in chapters xiv and xv of his First Apology, and elsewhere. His whole faith in Christ and in Christianity, he declares, is confirmed by these heathen precedents and analogies: "Be well assured, then, Trypho, that I am established in the knowledge of and faith in the Scriptures by those counterfeits which he who is called the Devil is said to have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah's days. For when they tell that Bacchus, son of Jupiter, was begotten by [Jupiter's) intercourse with Semele, and that he was the discoverer of the vine; and when they relate, that being torn in pieces, and having died, he rose again, and ascended to heaven; and when they introduce wine into his mysteries, do I not perceive that [the devil] has imitated the prophecy announced by the patriarch Jacob, and recorded by Moses? ... And when he [the devil] brings forward AEsculapius as the raiser of the dead and healer of all diseases, may I not say in this matter likewise he has imitated the prophecies about Christ? ... And when I hear that Perseus was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent counterfeited this also." (Dial, with Trypho, ch. lxix; ANF. i, 233.) Father Justin accepts the heathen gods as genuine divine beings; but says they are only wicked demons who lead men astray; and he says that these "evil demons, effecting apparitions of themselves, both defiled women and corrupted boys." (I Apol. ch. v, eh. liv, passim.) The devils "having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come, ... they put forward many to be called the sons of Jupiter, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things which were said in regard to Christ were more marvelous tales, like the things which were said by the poets. The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that Bacchus was the son of Jupiter, and gave out that he was the discoverer of the vine"; and so through many twaddling chapters, repeating the argument with respect to Bellerophon and his horse Pegasus, of Perseus, of Hercules, of AEsculapius, etc., as "analogies" prophetic of baptism, sacraments, the eucharist, resurrection, etc., etc. The Pagan myths and miracles are true; therefore like fables of the Christ are worthy of belief: "And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-born of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified. and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. ... But as we have said above, wicked devils perpetrated these things. And if we assert that the Word of God was born in a peculiar manner, different from ordinary generation, let this, as said above, be no extraordinary thing to you, who say that Mercury is the angelic word [Logos] of God. ... And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus. And in what we say that he made whole the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, we seem to say what is very similar to the deeds said to have been done by AEsculapius." (I Apol., chs. xxi, xxii; ANF. i, 170; cf. Add. ad Grace. ch. lxix; Ib. 233.) Father Justin also retails to the Emperor the old fable of Simon Magus and his magical miracles at Rome, and attributes it all to the work of the devils. For "the evil spirits, not being satisfied with saying, before Christ's appearance, that those who were said to be sons of Jupiter were born of him, but after he appeared, ... and when they learned how He had been foretold by the prophets, put forward again other men, the Samaritans Simon and Menander, who did many mighty works by magic; ... and so greatly astonished the sacred Senate and people of the Romans that he was considered a god, and honored with a statue; ... which statue was erected in the river Tiber, between the two bridges, and bore this inscription in the language of Rome: 'Simoni Deo Sancto -- To Simon the holy God" (I Apol. chs. xxvi, lvi; ANF. i, 171, 182; cf. Iren. Adv. Haer. ch. xxiii; ANF. i, 347-8; Euseb. HE. II, 13.) We have seen this much embroidered "tradition" myth exploded, and the statue discovered and deciphered, it being a simple private pious monument to a Pagan god! Father Justin in many chapters cites and appeals for Christian proofs to "The Testimony of the Sibyl," of Homer, of Sophocles, of Pythagoras, of Plato. (Add. ad Grace. chs. 18-20; ANF. i, 279-280.) Of the Sibyl, so often quoted: "And you may in part learn the right religion from the ancient Sibyl, who by some kind of potent inspiration teaches you, through her oracular predictions, truths which seem to be much akin to the teachings of the prophets. ... Ye men of Greece, ... do ye henceforth give heed to the words of the Sibyl, ... predicting, as she does in a clear and patent manner, the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ," quoting long verses of Christian-forged nonsense. (Ib. chs. 37-38; ANF. i, 288-289.)-- extracted from Joseph Wheless,