Earlier this year I challenged myself to begin reading
through the 10 volumes of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (the Writings of the Fathers
down to A.D. 325) that I’ve been packing around with me for a few years
now. I was interrupted my progress; we
moved again and all my books went into boxes.
They are only now beginning to find their places on shelves.
I’ve just finished reading Justin Martyr’s Hortatory Address to the Greeks- an
apologetic writing designed to convince Greek intellectuals of that Christianity
is the True Religion and that they should abandon the errors of their
polytheism. And this he does by
appealing, not to Christian scriptures – which Justin recognizes that they will
not accept – but rather by showing that Greek philosophers, poets, and even
dramatists have been, in subtle ways, teaching the truths of the Christian
faith, albeit in sometimes confused and hidden ways.
The Apostle Paul used this same technique at Mars Hill when
he addressed the Greek philosophers there (Acts 17) and what he tried to do in
Lystra when the people confused him and Barnabas for Zeus and Hermes (Acts
14). “This is true apologetic, and also true evangelism,
where the content of the gospel is preserved whilst the mode of expression is
tuned to the ears of the recipients….[he] endeavors to have as much common
ground with his audience – even while he is at work undermining their position!”[i]
But, unlike Paul, Justin’s writing isn’t very
stimulating. He’s dull. Reading this work was, for me, almost a
painful drudgery – but his ideas are interesting. It took me a while to get through this
writing.
Justin begins by demonstrating the conflict and
contradiction among Greek philosophers and poets. From philosophers like Thales
of Miletus, and Anaximander and Heraclitus of Metapontus to Pythagoras and Epicurus
and even to the holy trinity of Greek philosophy - Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
there were contradictory ideas about the nature and cause of everything. One said that water was first principle of
everything – everything comes from and returns to water – while another
declared that fire was the first principle.
Plato taught that there were three first principles: God, Matter, and
Form, while his student Aristotle taught that there were only two: God and Matter.
To Justin this lack of unity among the philosophers was evidence of their ignorance. “You see, then, the confusion of those who are considered by you to have been wise men, whom you assert to be your teachers of religion: some of them declaring that water is the first principle of all things; others, air; others, fire; and others, some other of these fore-mentioned elements; and all of them employing persuasive arguments for the establishment of their own errors, and attempting to prove their own peculiar dogma to be the most valuable. … How then, ye men of Greece, can it be safe for those who desire to be saved, to fancy that they can learn the true religion form these philosophers, who were neither able so to convince themselves as to prevent sectarian wrangling with one another, and not to appear definitely opposed to one another’s opinions?”[ii]
To Justin this lack of unity among the philosophers was evidence of their ignorance. “You see, then, the confusion of those who are considered by you to have been wise men, whom you assert to be your teachers of religion: some of them declaring that water is the first principle of all things; others, air; others, fire; and others, some other of these fore-mentioned elements; and all of them employing persuasive arguments for the establishment of their own errors, and attempting to prove their own peculiar dogma to be the most valuable. … How then, ye men of Greece, can it be safe for those who desire to be saved, to fancy that they can learn the true religion form these philosophers, who were neither able so to convince themselves as to prevent sectarian wrangling with one another, and not to appear definitely opposed to one another’s opinions?”[ii]
In contrast, Justin presented the Christian faith as being
at the same time – older than Greek philosophies and harmonious – that is,
without internal contradiction or argument.
“Wherefore, as if with one mouth
and one tongue, they have in succession,
and in harmony with each other, taught us both concerning God, and the creation
of the world, and the formation of man, and concerning the immortality of the
human soul, and the judgment which is to be after this life, and concerning all
things which it is needful for us to know…”
Of course, even in Justin’s day there were various interpretations
of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures – some of which were mutually
contradictory and the debates were sometimes acrimonious. Either Justin was 1) very naïve and actually
believed the way he understood the Christian faith was THE way that ALL
Christians believed or 2) he was trying to present his argument in a clear and
uncluttered way so that the Greeks he was addressing could recognize the truth
of Christianity without becoming confused by the arguments within Christianity.
I hope it was the latter, but I’m guessing it
was more of the former.
He then cites numerous Greek writings in order to
demonstrate how they were influenced by and teach the same thing as Moses and
the Prophets. He finds arguments against
Greek polytheism in Orpheus, Homer, Sophocles, Pythagoras, and Plato. But if these disguised their monotheism within
polytheist teachings it was because they feared to be branded an “enemy of the
Greek” and being forced to drink the hemlock like Socrates.
Justin almost seems to make Plato a Christian before Christ. Other Christian apologists and theologians like
Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and St. Augustine were influenced by Plato and
neo-Platonism and Platonic ideas became authoritative within Christianity
during the middle ages. Many platonic
ideas still permeate much of Christianity.
As an example, Justin points out that Plato’s idea that
there are three First Principles was, in fact, learned from Moses. He cites the instructions given to Moses
concerning the construction of the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant in
Exodus 25. The plans were “seen in
heaven” and were constructed on earth. The
Platonic ideal!
The upshot of Justin’s argument for the Greeks is that it
would not have been an offense for them to accept the teachings of Christianity
– they already knew much of it from their own poets, dramatists, and
philosophers. All that they needed was
the courage to set aside the errors of their fathers and to embrace the true
religion.
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