The First and Second Apologies (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The First and Second Apologies Timothy J. Horner Justin Martyr. The First and Second Apologies. Translated with Introduction and Notes by Leslie William Barnard. Ancient Christian Writers 56. New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1997. Pp. 245. $29.95. There is no doubt that L. W. Barnard has contributed much to the study of Justin Martyr. His past scholarship has advanced this field and his clear thinking has brought lucidity to many confusing points in Justin’s thought. His new translation of Justin’s I & II Apologies does not, however, add significantly to this body of research. Barnard’s notes and comments dominate the translation (2:1, notes to text) and are the subject of this review. I found Barnard’s effort to portray Justin as a mainstream Church Father disturbing and unnecessary. The freedom of Justin’s thinking is diminished when, for example, Barnard defends Justin from the charge of Arianism. After quoting Dial. 62 he concludes that, “He was not a creature, in the later Arian sense, not an emanation from God, but in essence a unity with the Father although distinct in personality. He is worshiped in the second place to the Father” (115 n.67). He is right that there is no Arianism in Justin, but why go on and fit Justin into words like ‘essence,’ ‘unity,’ or ‘distinct in personality only,’ when Justin is goes out of his way to stress that the Logos is distinct from God, united in will only. Barnard even repeats himself to fend off the accusation that Justin does not display Trinitarian doctrine in Dial. 13.60. “This rank of order, mentioned by Justin and Athenagoras, is not intended to suggest degrees of subordination with the Godhead but refers to the triad as manifested in creation and revelation . . . Justin’s statement is the language of Christian experience and worship rather than doctrinal definition” (n.77; italicized text is verbatim in n.360). This is partly true but only because Justin does not conceive of God as a Godhead. God is singular and transcendent and without match. This is central to his Christological argument in the Dialogue and the Apologies. Barnard stands with scholars who have used only the Apologies to define the Logos, bringing in supporting evidence from the Dialogue only when it agrees. It is true that this book does not concern the Dialogue, but I would then suggest that the Dialogue not be brought into the picture at all. Instead of saying: “Justin was very conscious of the all-embracing activity of the demons [sic]” followed by a reference in the Dialogue (82.3)—which, in fact, refers to Satan, not —it would be more accurate to say that, “in the Apologies, Justin is very conscious of the all-embracing. . . .” This qualification is necessary because the daimon theory is notably absent in the Dialogue. are referred to in several places in the Dialogue (7:3; 30.3; 49.8; 73.3; 76.5–6; 79.4; 83.4; 121.3; 131.5), but in every case (except 131.5 which is vague) Justin is referring to the activity of within the ‘pagan nations.’ There is no evidence whatsoever that Justin saw at work in the Jewish people. Not even when he accuses the Jewish teachers of altering the scriptures does he level such a claim. [End Page 602] are not all-embracing, they are culturally bound. Moreover, Justin does not even mention his idea that created the classical myths to make the Christian claims look like mere copies. Even in Dial. 67 where Trypho baits Justin with this suggestion, Justin says nothing about the and their plan to undermine the Christian message. This is an example of Barnard using the Apologies in an overly-generalized fashion. Barnard’s use of some Jewish material also strikes me as uncritical. In n.213 (147), Barnard states that “by Justin’s time the LXX had ceased to be used in the Synagogue and Greek-Speaking Jewish Orthodoxy, throughout the diaspora, had been supplied with different translations (e.g. Aquila and Theodotion).” This is a misleading statement. Archeological evidence from this part of the second century and even later show...