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The Second Apology

Justin Martyr

Chapter 10

About this work

A shorter defense responding to recent judicial violence against Christians and arguing that persecution, philosophical reason, human freedom, and Christian hope must be judged justly.

Author: Justin Martyr
Date: c. AD 150–160
Origin: Rome
Genre: Apology

Chapter X.—Christ compared with Socrates.

Our doctrines, then, appear to be greater than

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all

human

teaching

;

because

Christ

,

who

appeared

for

our

sakes

,

became

the

whole

rational

being

,

both

body

,

and

reason

,

and

soul

.

For

I

whatever

either

lawgivers

or

philosophers

uttered

well

,

they

elaborated

by

finding

and

contemplating

some

part

of

the

Word

.

But

since

they

I

did

not

know

the

whole

of

the

Word

,

which

is

Christ

,

they

often

contradicted

themselves

.

And

those

who

by

human

birth

were

more

ancient

than

Christ

,

when

they

attempted

to

consider

and

prove

things

by

reason

,

were

brought

before

the

tribunals

as

impious

persons

and

busybodies

.

And

Socrates

,

who

was

more

zealous

in

this

direction

than

all

of

them

,

was

accused

of

the

very

same

crimes

as

ourselves

.

For

they

said

that

he

was

introducing

new

divinities

,

and

did

not

consider

those

to

be

gods

whom

the

state

recognised

.

But

he

cast

out

from

the

state

both

Homer

and

the

rest

of

the

poets

,

and

taught

men

to

reject

the

wicked

demons

and

those

who

did

the

things

which

the

poets

related

;

and

he

exhorted

them

to

become

acquainted

with

the

God

who

was

to

them

unknown

,

by

means

of

the

investigation

of

reason

,

saying

,

“

That

it

is

neither

easy

to

find

the

Father

and

Maker

of

all

,

nor

,

having

found

Him

,

is

it

safe

to

declare

Him

to

all

.

”

But

these

things

our

Christ

did

through

His

own

power

.

For

no

one

trusted

in

Socrates

so

as

to

die

for

this

doctrine

,

but

in

Christ

,

who

was

partially

known

even

by

Socrates

(

for

He

was

and

is

the

Word

who

is

in

every

man

,

and

who

foretold

the

things

that

were

to

come

to

pass

both

through

the

prophets

and

in

His

own

person

when

He

was

made

of

like

passions

,

and

taught

these

things

)

,

not

only

philosophers

and

scholars

believed

,

but

also

artisans

and

people

entirely

uneducated

,

despising

both

glory

,

and

fear

,

and

death

;

since

He

is

a

power

of

the

ineffable

Father

,

not

the

mere

instrument

of

human

reason

.

Notes

16
Plato, Rep., x. c. i. p. 595.
17
Plat., Timæus, p. 28, C. (but “possible,” and not “safe,” is the word used by Plato).
18
[Certainly the author of this chapter, and others like it, cannot be accused of a feeble rhetoric.]