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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 1

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter I.—Reasons for addressing the Greeks.

As I begin this hortatory address to you, ye

men

of

Greece

,

I

pray

God

that

I

may

know

what

I

ought

to

say

to

you

,

and

that

you

,

shaking

off

your

habitual

love

of

disputing

,

and

being

delivered

from

the

error

of

your

fathers

,

may

now

choose

what

is

profitable

;

not

fancying

that

you

commit

any

offence

against

your

forefathers

,

though

the

things

which

you

formerly

considered

by

no

means

salutary

should

now

seem

useful

to

you

.

For

accurate

investigation

of

matters

,

putting

truth

to

the

question

with

a

more

searching

scrutiny

,

often

reveals

that

things

which

have

passed

for

excellent

are

of

quite

another

sort

.

Since

,

then

,

we

propose

to

discourse

of

the

true

religion

(

than

which

,

I

think

,

there

is

nothing

which

is

counted

more

valuable

by

those

who

desire

to

pass

through

life

without

danger

,

on

account

of

the

judgment

which

is

to

be

after

the

termination

of

this

life

,

and

which

is

announced

not

only

by

our

forefathers

according

to

God

,

to

wit

the

prophets

and

lawgivers

,

but

also

by

those

among

yourselves

who

have

been

esteemed

wise

,

not

poets

alone

,

but

also

philosophers

,

who

professed

among

you

that

they

had

attained

the

true

and

divine

knowledge

)

,

I

think

it

well

first

of

all

to

examine

the

teachers

of

religion

,

both

our

own

and

yours

,

who

they

were

,

and

how

great

,

and

in

what

times

they

lived

;

in

order

that

those

who

have

formerly

received

from

their

fathers

the

false

religion

,

may

now

,

when

they

perceive

this

,

be

extricated

from

that

inveterate

error

;

and

that

we

may

clearly

and

manifestly

show

that

we

ourselves

follow

the

religion

of

our

forefathers

according

to

God

.

Notes

1
Literally, “former.”