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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 11

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter XI.—Heathen oracles testify of Moses.

But as you do not see the necessity of giving

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up

the

ancient

error

of

your

forefathers

in

obedience

to

these

teachers

[

of

ours

]

,

what

teachers

of

your

own

do

you

maintain

to

have

lived

worthy

of

credit

in

the

matter

of

religion

?

For

,

as

I

have

frequently

said

,

it

is

impossible

that

those

who

have

not

themselves

learned

these

so

great

and

divine

things

from

such

persons

as

are

acquainted

with

them

,

should

either

themselves

know

them

,

or

be

able

rightly

to

teach

others

.

Since

,

therefore

,

it

has

been

sufficiently

proved

that

the

opinions

of

your

philosophers

are

obviously

full

of

all

ignorance

and

deceit

,

having

now

perhaps

wholly

abandoned

the

philosophers

as

formerly

you

abandoned

the

poets

,

you

will

turn

to

the

deceit

of

the

oracles

;

for

in

this

style

I

have

heard

some

speaking

.

Therefore

I

think

it

fit

to

tell

you

at

this

step

in

our

discourse

what

I

formerly

heard

among

you

concerning

their

utterances

.

For

when

one

inquired

at

your

oracle

—

it

is

your

own

story

—

what

religious

men

had

at

any

time

happened

to

live

,

you

say

that

the

oracle

answered

thus

:

“

Only

the

Chaldæans

have

obtained

wisdom

,

and

the

Hebrews

,

who

worship

God

Himself

,

the

self

-

begotten

King

.

”

Since, therefore, you think that the truth can be learned from your oracles, when you read the histories and what has been written regarding the life of Moses by those who do not belong to our religion, and when you know that Moses and the rest of the prophets were descended from the race of the Chaldæans and Hebrews, do not think that anything incredible has taken place if a man sprung from a godly line, and who lived worthily of the godliness of his fathers, was chosen by God to be honoured with this great gift and to be set forth as the first of all the prophets.