Revisiting Justin Once Again!

The distortion of Justin Martyr’s writings by anti-Trinitarians seems to be never-ending. Instead of allowing this blessed and holy martyr of Christ to articulate his Trinitarian beliefs in his own way, these individuals insist on reading their own views into his statements in order to make him a witness against the glorious Trinity. An example of this is to interpret what Justin wrote in his first apology concerning God the Father being more kingly and just than Christ as proof of his subordinating the Son to a lesser divine position.

In light of this distortion, I have decided to once again set the record straight by examining this blessed martyr’s words in the immediate and over all contexts of his works in order to show that this wasn’t his intended meaning. I will prove that Justin’s language points to the Father being the Source of the Son’s rule, power, justice, divinity, etc., precisely because he is the inoriginate Begetter of the uncreated Word whom he begot from himself, out of his own nature from before all creation. I will also quote places where Justin states that Christians worship the Triad, meaning, the Father in the first place, the Son second, and the prophetic/divine Spirit third. From there I will cite Justin affirming that Jesus is the Lord God YHWH whom the patriarchs and prophets saw, since this will prove that Justin did believe that Jesus is the Almighty King who is just as kingly and righteous as his Father. This is because the Bible is clear that YHWH is perfectly and incomparably righteous and holy, and that there is none who is higher or greater than him in status.

I will be quoting from Thomas B. Falls, The Fathers of the Church Patristic Series: Justin Martyr, The First Apology, The Second Apology, Dialogue with Trypho, Exhortation to the Greeks, Discourse to the Greeks, The Monarchy of the Rule of God, and published by Catholic University of America Press in 2008. All emphasis will be mine.      

Worshiping the Triadic Deity

Chapter 11

When you hear that we look forward to a kingdom, you rashly assume that we speak of a human kingdom,¹ whereas we mean a kingdom which is with God. This becomes evident when, being questioned, we openly profess to be Christians, although we know well that for such a profession of faith the punishment is death. If we expected a human kingdom, we would deny that we are Christians, that we might not be put to death, and we would try to hide from you, that we might attain what we expect. But, because we do not place our hope in the present, we do not mind when men murder us, since death is inevitable anyhow.

Chapter 12

We, more than all other men, are truly your helpers and allies in fostering peace, since we believe that it is impossible for the wicked or the avaricious, or the treacherous, and the virtuous alike to hide from the sight of God, and that each man receives eternal punishment or salvation according to the merits of his actions. If everyone realized this, no one would prefer to be in sin even for a little while, knowing that he would incur the pains of eternal fire, but he would him to choose. That all these things should happen was foretold, I say, by our Teacher, Jesus Christ, who is the Son and ApostIe⁴ of God, the Father and Ruler of all, and from whom we have received our name of Christians. Hence, we are convinced of the truth of all the things He by all means control himself and adorn himself with virtue, in order to gain the favor of God and escape His punishments. It is not¹ because of the laws and penalties you fix that men try to hide from you when they break the law, but they disobey the law knowing that it is possible to elude you, since you are mere men. If, however, they learned and were convinced that nothing, whether in their actions or in their thoughts, can be hidden from the knowledge of God, they would live a completely orderly life, if only because of the threatened punishments, as you yourselves will admit. But you seem to dread lest all men become just and you no longer have any left to punish. Such might be the worry of public executioners, but it should not be the concern of righteous rulers. As we said before, we believe that these things have been instigated by the evil demons who claim sacrifices and veneration even from those who do not live according to reason. But we do not presume that you who strive for piety and philosophy will act against reason. Still, if you, too, like thoughtless men, respect custom rather than truth, then do what is in your power. Rulers who prefer popular opinion to truth have as much power as robbers in the desert. That you will not succeed² is testified to by the Word, and we know no ruler more kingly or just than He except God [the Father] who begot Him.³ For, just as all men try to avoid inheriting the poverty, misery, and dishonor of their fathers, so will the taught us, because whatever He foretold would happen is actually happening; this, indeed, is the practice' of God, to speak of something before it takes place and then to show it taking place just as He predicted.

We might stop here and add nothing more, since we plead for what is just and true. But, since we know how difficult it is to change over a mind trained in ignorance, we have decided to add a few observations to convince all lovers of truth, for we know that it is not impossible to dispel ignorance by setting truth against it.

Chapter 13

What sensible person will not admit that we are not atheists, since we worship the Creator of this world and assert, as we have been taught, that He has no need of bloody sacrifices, libations, and incense. But we praise Him to the best of our power by prayer and thanksgiving for all our nourishment.¹ We have been instructed that the only worship worthy of Him is not to consume by fire those things that He created for our sustenance, but to employ them for the good of ourselves and the needy, and, with thankful voices, to offer Him solemn prayers and hymns² for our own creation, for the preservation of our health, for the variety of things, and for the changes of the seasons, and to beseech Him in prayer that we may rise to life everlasting because of our faith in Him. Our Teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who was born for this end, and who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. We shall prove that we worship Him with reason, since we have learned that He is the Son of the living God Himself, and believe Him to be in the second place, and the Prophetic Spirit in the third.³ For this they accuse us of madness, saying that we attribute to a crucified man a place second to the unchanging and eternal God, the Creator of all things, but they are ignorant of the mystery which lies herein. To this mystery we entreat you to give your attention, while we explain it to you.

1 One of the accusations against the Christians was that of owing allegiance to another kingdom. This, it was claimed, made the Christians guilty of treason and prevented them from being good citizens.

1 'Not' (ou); others read the article hoi (cf. Rauschen, ad lac.): 'For those who try, because of the laws and penalties you fix, to hide from you when they break the laws, disobey the law knowing' etc.

2 Namely, the rulers will not succeed in their persecution of the Christians, because the latter have the support of Christ, and because they are encouraged by the knowledge that their trial and sufferings are but the fulfilments of His prophecies.

3 This seems to imply the error of subordinationism which teaches that the Father is greater than the Son; cf. also Ch. 2 Apol. 13; Dial. 56 (Cf. Rauschen, ad lac., and Altaner, Patrologia). (The First Apology, pp. 43-46)

Chapter 13

When I learned of the evil camouflage which the wicked demons had thrown around the divine doctrines of the Christians to deter others from following them, I had to laugh at the authors of these lies, at the camouflage itself, and at the popular reaction. I am proud to say that I strove with all my might to be known as a Christian, not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in every way similar; neither are those of other writers, the Stoics, the poets, and the historians. For each one of them, seeing, through his participation of the seminal Divine Word, what was related to it, spoke very well. But, they who contradict themselves in important matters evidently did not acquire the unseen [that is, heavenly] wisdom and the indisputable knowledge. The truths which men in all lands have rightly spoken belong to us Christians. For we worship and love, after God the Father, the Word who is from the Unbegotten and Ineffable God, since He even became Man for us, so that by sharing in our sufferings He also might heal us. Indeed, all writers, by means of the engrafted seed of the Word which was implanted in them, had a dim glimpse of the truth. For the seed of something and its imitation, given in proportion to one's capacity, is one thing, but the thing itself, which is shared and imitated according to His grace, is quite another. (The Second Apology, pp. 133-134)

Jesus: The LORD God of the Patriarchs & Prophets

Justin argues that Jesus is the God who appeared to the patriarchs and the prophets, including Moses, either as the Angel, a Man or as the fire which did not consume the burning bush, and who identified himself as the I AM or the Being (Ho On). Justin will also liken the begetting of the Son to a human who begets a word from himself without diminishing the word within him.  

Chapter 62

After hearing of this baptism which the Prophet Isaias announced, the demons prompted those who enter their temples and come to them with libations and burnt offerings to sprinkle themselves also with water; furthermore, they cause them to wash their whole persons, as they approach the place of sacrifice, before they go to the shrines where their [the demons'] statues are located. And the order given by the priests to those who enter and worship in the temples, to take off their shoes, was imitated by the demons after they learned what happened to Moses, the above-mentioned Prophet. For at this time, when Moses was ordered to go down into Egypt and bring out the Israelites who were there, and while he was tending the sheep of his mother's brother¹ in the land of Arabia, our Christ talked with him in the shape of fire from a bush. Indeed, He said: 'Put off thy shoes, and draw near and hear.'² When he had taken off his shoes, he approached the burning bush and heard that he was to go down into Egypt and bring out the people of Israel who were in that land; and he received great power from Christ who spoke to him under the form of fire, and he went down and brought out the people after he performed great and wondrous deeds. If you wish to know about these deeds you may learn them clearly from his writings.

Chapter 63

Even now, all Jews teach that the ineffable God spoke to Moses. Wherefore, the Prophetic Spirit, censuring the Jews through Isaias, the above-mentioned Prophet, said: 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood Me.'¹ Because the Jews did not know the nature of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ likewise upbraided them, saying: 'No one knows the Father except the Son; nor does anyone know the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him.'² Now, the Word of God is His Son, as we have already stated, and He is called Angel and Apostle; for, as Angel He announces all that we must know, and [as Apostle] He is sent forth to inform us of what has been revealed, as our Lord Himself says: 'He that heareth Me, heareth Him that sent Me.'³ This will be further clarified from the following words of Moses: 'And the Angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and said, "I AM WHO AM, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt, and bring forth My people."'⁴ If you are curious to know what happened after this, you can find out by consulting these same Mosaic writings, for it is impossible to recount everything in this work. What has been written has been here set down to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, appearing at one time in the form of fire, at another under the guise of incorporeal beings [i. e., as an angel], but now, at the will of God, after becoming man for mankind, He bore all the torments which the demons prompted the rabid Jews to wreak upon Him. Although it is explicitly stated in the Mosaic writings: 'And the Angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and said, "I AM WHO AM, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,"'⁵ the Jews assert that it was the Father and Maker of all things who spoke thus. Hence, the Prophetic Spirit reproaches them, saying: 'Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood Me.'⁶ And again, as we have already shown, Jesus, while still in their midst, said: 'No one knows the Father except the Son, nor does anyone know the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him.'⁷ The Jews, therefore, always of the opinion that the Universal Father spoke to Moses, while in fact it was the very Son of God, who is styled both Angel and Apostle, were justly reproached by both the Prophetic Spirit and by Christ Himself, since they knew neither the Father nor the Son. For, they who claim that the Son is the Father are reproached for knowing neither the Father nor that the Father of all has a Son, who, as the First-born Word of God, is also God. He once appeared to Moses and the other prophets in the form of fire and in the guise of an angel, but now in the time of your reign, after He became man by a virgin, as we already stated, by the design of God the Father, to effect the salvation of those believing in Him, He permitted Himself to be an object of contempt and to suffer pain, so that by dying and arising from the dead He might conquer death. But what was proclaimed to Moses from the bush: 'I AM WHO AM, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of your fathers,'⁸ meant that those who had died were still in existence, and belonged to Christ Himself. For they were the first of all to occupy themselves in searching for God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, as was written by Moses.

1 Isa. 1.3.

2 Matt. 11.27.

3 Luke 10.16.

4 Exod. 3.2.14-15.

5 Ibid.

6 Isa. 1.3.

7 Matt. 11.27.

8. Exod. 3.14·15. (The First Apology, pp. 101-104)

Chapter 56

'Moses, that faithful and blessed servant of God, tells us that He who appeared to Abraham under the oak tree of Mamre was God, sent with two accompanying angels to judge Sodom by Another who ever abides in the super-celestial sphere, who has never been seen by any man, and with whom no man has ever conversed, and whom we call Creator of all and Father. Here are the words of Moses: "And God appeared to him under the oak in Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw and beheld three men standing near him. And as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and he bowed himself toward the ground, and said,"¹ and so on, to the words: "And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord; and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole land of that country, and behold, he saw a flame go up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace."'²

At this point I asked them if they understood this quotation. They answered that they knew the meaning of the cited passages, but failed to see how they proved that, besides the Creator of the world, any other God or Lord exists or is mentioned by the Holy Spirit.

'Then,' I replied, 'since you understand these quotations from Scripture, I shall attempt to prove my assertion, namely, that there exists and is mentioned in Scripture another God and Lord under the Creator of all things, who is also called an Angel, because He proclaims to man whatever the Creator of the world-above whom there is no other God wishes to reveal to them.'

Then, repeating the previously-quoted Scriptural passages, I asked Trypho if he really believed that God appeared to Abraham under the oak in Mamre, as the Scriptures stated.

'I certainly do,' he replied.

'Was He one of those three,' I asked, 'who, the Prophetic Spirit says, were seen as men by Abraham?'

'No,' Trypho answered, 'but God appeared to him before he saw the three men. Furthermore, those three whom the Scripture calls men were angels. Two of them were commissioned to destroy Sodom, while the third was sent to impart to Sara the good news that she was to have a son (and having fulfilled his mission, he departed.)'

'How do you explain,' I went on, 'that one of the three who was in the tent, and who promised, "I will return to thee in due season, and Sara shall have a son,"³ did return after Sara gave birth to her son, and the prophecy then asserts that He is God? For a clearer insight into the truth of my words, listen to these quite explicit words of Moses: "And when Sara had seen the son of Agar, the Egyptian bondwoman, whom she bore to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac, she said to Abraham: Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac. Abraham took this grievously because of his son. And God said to Abraham: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy and for thy bondwoman; in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."⁴ Do you not see, therefore, that He who promised under the oak that He would return, since He knew He would be needed to counsel Abraham to do what Sara wished, did return according to the Scriptures, and is God, as these following words indicate: "And God said to Abraham: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy and for thy bondwoman"'?⁵

'That's right,' said Trypho, 'but you have not thereby proved that this is another God besides Him who appeared to Abraham, and who appeared also to the other Patriarchs and Prophets. All you have shown is that we were mistaken in our assumption that the three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels.'

'Then,' I said, 'if I could not prove to you from the Scriptures that one of these three is God, and yet is termed an Angel or "messenger" (because, as stated above, He delivered the messages of God, the Creator of all to whomsoever God desires), and that He who appeared to Abraham on earth in human form (as did the two angels who accompanied Him) was in fact the God WHO EXISTED BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, it would be logical for you to adhere to the common doctrine of your people.'

‘Without a doubt,' he replied, 'for this has been our belief up to now.'

'Then,' I said, 'let us return to the Scriptures and I shall try to convince you that He who is said to have appeared to Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, and is called God, is distinct from God, the Creator; distinct, that is, in number, but not in mind. For I state that He never did or said anything else than what the Creator-above whom there is no other God -desired that He do or say.'

'Prove now,' said Trypho, 'that He exists, so that we can agree also upon this. For we understand that you deny that He affirmed, did, or said anything contrary to the will of the Creator.'

'The previously quoted Scriptural passages will make this evident to you,' I replied. 'Here are the words: "The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segar. And the Lord rained upon Sodom brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven. And He destroyed these cities, and all the country round about."'⁶

Then the fourth of the companions who remained with Trypho spoke up: 'It must therefore be admitted that one of the two angels who went down to Sodom, and whom Moses in the Scriptures calls Lord, is different from Him who is also God, and appeared to Abraham.'

'Not only because of that quotation,' I said, 'must we certainly admit that, besides the Creator of the universe, another was called Lord by the Holy Spirit. For this was attested to not only by Moses, but also by David, when he said: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool."⁷ And in other words: "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellow.”⁸ Tell me if it is your opinion that the Holy Spirit calls another God and Lord, besides the Father of all things and His Christ. For, I am now going to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that He, who was termed Lord in the Scriptures, is not one of the two angels who went down to Sodom, but He who accompanied them, and is called God, who appeared to Abraham.'

'Hurry on with your proof, then,' said Trypho, 'for, as you see, it is getting late in the day, and we are not ready to make any unguarded replies, for we have never before heard anyone who made such inquiries, examinations, or proofs. In fact, we would not have listened to you thus far, had you not constantly cited the Scriptures in your attempts to prove your point, and had you not stated that there is no God superior to the Creator of the world.'

'You must surely know,' I went on, 'the following quotation from Scripture: "And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed? Is there anything impossible to God? According to appointment I will return to thee in due season, and Sara shall have a son.'" And a little later: "And the men rose up from thence, and turned their eyes towards Sodom and Gomorrah; and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way. And the Lord said: I will not hide from Abraham My servant what I am doing."¹⁰ And again, soon after, it is written: "And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous. I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to Me; or whether it be not so, that I may know. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom; but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said: Wilt Thou destroy the just with the wicked?"¹¹ (And so forth, for I don't deem it necessary to repeat the words I have already written, but only those which really clinched my argument with Trypho and his friends.) Thus, I passed over to the following words of Scripture: "And the Lord departed, after He had left speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. And two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom."¹² And so Oft, until: "But the men put forth their hands, and drew Lot into the house unto them, and shut the door."¹³ And then the following words occur: "And the angels took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his daughters, because the Lord spared him. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth out of the city, they said, Save, save thy life. Look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about; but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou also be consumed. But Lot said to them: I beseech Thee my Lord, because Thy servant hath found grace before Thee, and Thou hast magnified Thy mercy, which Thou hast shown to me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die. Behold, there is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, and it is little; there I shall be safe, since it is little, and my soul shall live. And He said to him: Behold also in this I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken. Make haste and be saved there, because I cannot do anything till thou go in thither. Therefore he called that city Segar. The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segar. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And He destroyed those cities, and all the country about."¹⁴ At this point I asked, 'Do you not see, my friends, that one of the three, who is both God and Lord, and ministers to Him who is in Heaven, is Lord of the two angels? When they went on to Sodom, He stayed behind and talked with Abraham, as Moses testified. Then He went His way after His conversation, and Abraham returned to his place. And when He came to Sodom, it was no longer the two angels, but He Himself, who talked with Lot, as is evident from the Scriptures. He, indeed, is the Lord who was commissioned by the Lord in Heaven, that is, the Creator of all things, to inflict those dreadful punishments upon Sodom and Gomorrah, which are described in the Scriptures in this fashion: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven."'¹⁵

Chapter 57

When I had finished, Trypho admitted, 'The Scriptures evidently compel us to agree with you. But you must admit that our perplexity is justified at those words which describe how the Lord ate the food which was prepared and presented to Him by Abraham.'

'It is indeed written,' I replied, 'that they ate. But, if we heard it said that the three did eat, and not the two only, who were in reality angels and were evidently fed in Heaven, though not with the same kind of food that humans consume (for, in speaking of the manna which your forefathers ate in the desert, the Scriptures say¹ that they ate the food of angels), then I would say that when the Scripture asserts they ate, it is to be understood in the same way as when we say that fire devours everything, but not in the sense that they ate by chewing the food with their teeth and jaws. Thus, if we are in any way familiar with the use of figurative modes of expression, even in this Scriptural passage there should be nothing puzzling to us.'

'It is possible,' conceded Trypho, 'that your explanation of the different ways of eating would solve the difficulty arising from the statement that Abraham's guests, in consuming the food set before them, are said to have eaten it. So go on, now, to prove how THIS GOD who appeared to Abraham, and ministered to the Creator of the universe, WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN, AND BECAME A MAN, as you claim, suffering like all others.'

'Before I produce the proof that you ask, Trypho,' I said, 'permit me to offer you some additional arguments on the topic under discussion, that you also may be persuaded about it.'

'Go ahead,' he replied, 'for that will be agreeable to me.'

Chapter 58

'I wish to quote Scripture to you,' I said, 'without any merely artistic arrangement of arguments. Indeed, I have no such skill, but this grace alone was given me from God to understand His Scriptures, in which grace I invite everyone to share freely and abundantly, lest I should be held accountable at the judgment which God, the Creator of the universe, shall hold through my Lord Jesus Christ.'

'In doing so,' said Trypho, 'you surely show true piety toward God, but when you state that you have no talent in the art of discussion, I suspect that you are just pretending ignorance in this matter.'

'If you think so,' I replied, 'we will not argue the point, but I still feel that I spoke the truth. Be that as it may, if you will give me your undivided attention, I'll present the rest of my proof.'

'Proceed,' he said.

'My brethren,' I went on, 'it has been stated by Moses that He who is termed God, and who appeared to the Patriarchs, is also called Angel and Lord, in order that by these expressions you may recognize Him as the minister of the Father of all things (which you have already admitted, but which through additional arguments you shall believe more firmly). The word of God, as recorded by Moses, speaks of Jacob, grandson of Abraham, in the following manner: "And it came to pass at that time that the sheep conceived; I saw them with my eyes in my sleep. And behold the he-goats and rams which leaped upon the sheep and she-goats were white-streaked, and spotted, and speckled. And the angel of God said unto me in my sleep, Jacob, Jacob. And I answered: What is it, Lord? And He said: Lift up thy eyes, and see the he-goats and rams which leap upon the sheep and she-goats are white-streaked, and spotted, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee. I am the God who appeared to thee in Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and make a vow to Me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return into thy native country, and I will be with thee."¹ And another passage speaks thus of Jacob: "And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over all his belongings. And Jacob was left alone; and an Angel wrestled with him till morning. And when He saw that He could not overcome him, He touched the sinew of his thigh while they wrestled, and forthwith it became numb. And He said to him: Let Me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me. And He said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob. But He said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel, for thou hast prevailed with God, and shalt be powerful with men. Jacob asked: Tell me by what name art Thou called? And He answered: Why dost thou ask My name? And He blessed him in the same place. And Jacob called the name of the place, The Vision of God, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul rejoiced."² And again in another place it is written of the same Jacob: "And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel; he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place Bethel, for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother Esau. At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died and was buried at the foot of Bethel under an oak; and Jacob called the name of that place, The Oak of Mourning. And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and He blessed him; saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name."³

'He is called God, He IS God, and shall ALWAYS BE GOD.' At these words they all nodded their heads in agreement. Then I said, 'I consider it most appropriate that I repeat here the Scriptural passage which tells how He who is Angel and God and Lord, and who appeared as a man to Abraham, and who wrestled in human form with Jacob, was seen by the same Jacob as he fled from his brother Esau. Here are the sacred words: "And Jacob went out from the Well of the Oath, and went towards Charran. And he came to a certain place, and slept there, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones that lay there, and putting them under his head, he slept in that place. And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, said: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and of Isaac; fear not. The land wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and shall be spread abroad to the sea, and to the south, and to the north, and to the east; and in thee and thy seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. And I will be thy keeper withersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said. And when Jacob awaked out of his sleep, he said: indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! This is no other but the house of God, and the gate of Heaven. And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had laid under his head and set it up for a monument, pouring oil upon the top of it. And Jacob called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Ummaus."'⁴

Chapter 59

Then I continued, 'Allow me now to show you from the words of the book of Exodus how this very Person who was at the same time Angel and God and Lord and Man, and who was seen by Abraham and Jacob,¹ also appeared and talked to Moses from the flame of the fiery bush.' And when I was assured by my audience that they would listen gladly, patiently, and eagerly, I went on, 'In the Book of Exodus it is written: "Now after a long time the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned by reason of the works."² And so on, until it is written: "Go, gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shall say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying: Visiting I have visited you, and I have seen all that hath befallen you in Egypt."'³ Then I asked, 'My friends, do you not see that He whom Moses speaks of as an Angel who conversed with him from the fiery bush is the same who, being God, signifies to Moses that He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob?'

Chapter 60

'From the words you quoted,' replied Trypho, 'the only conclusion we can draw is that it was an Angel who was seen in the fiery bush, but God who talked with Moses; so that in the apparition there were really two Persons together: Angel and God.'

'Even if it were so,' I answered, 'that both an Angel and God appeared together in the apparition to Moses, yet, as my previously quoted passages prove, it will not be the Creator of the world who is the God who said to Moses that He was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, but it will be He who was proved to you to have been seen by Abraham and Jacob, doing the will of the Creator of the universe, and putting into execution His will in the judgment of Sodom. Thus, even if there were two persons, as you claim, an Angel and God, yet no one with even the slightest intelligence would dare to assert that the Creator and Father of all things left His super-celestial realms to make Himself visible in a little spot on earth.'

'It has already been shown,' agreed Trypho, 'that He who appeared to Abraham, and was called God and Lord, executed the commission (which He received from the Lord in Heaven) to punish the Sodomites. Even if the God who appeared to Moses was accompanied by an Angel, we cannot identify the God who spoke to Moses from the bush with God, the Creator of all, but with Him who certainly appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and who was also called and perceived to be the Angel of the Creator, because He made known to men the will of the Father and Creator.'

'Trypho,' I said, 'I now wish to prove to you that in the apparition under discussion, He who is termed an Angel and is God was the only One who talked to and was seen by Moses. Here is the Scriptural proof: "The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that He went forward to see, He called to him out of the midst of the bush."¹ Now, as the Scripture refers to Him who appeared to Jacob in a dream as an Angel, and then states that the same Angel said to Jacob in his sleep, "I am the God who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from the face of thy brother Esau";² and as Scripture also affirms that, in the judgment of Sodom in the days of Abraham, the Lord executed the will of the Lord who is in Heaven; so when the Scripture here states that an Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and then announces that He is Lord and God, it refers to the same Person who is identified in many of our earlier quotations as the minister to God, who is above the world, and above whom there is no other God.'

Chapter 61

'So, my friends,' I said, 'I shall now show from the Scriptures that God has begotten OF HIMSELF a certain RATIONAL POWER as a Beginning¹ BEFORE ALL OTHER CREATURES. The Holy Spirit indicates this Power by various titles, sometimes the Glory of the Lord, at other times Son, or Wisdom, or Angel, or God, or Lord, or Word. He even called Himself Commander-in-chief when He appeared in human guise to Josue, the son of Nun. Indeed, He can justly lay claim to all these titles from the fact both that He performs the Father's will and that He was begotten by an act of the Father's will. But, does not something similar happen also with us humans? When we utter a word, it can be said that we beget the word, but not by cutting it off, in the sense that our power of uttering words would thereby be diminished. We can observe a similar example in nature when one fire kindles another,² without losing anything, but remaining the same; yet the enkindled fire seems to exist of itself and to shine without lessening the brilliancy of the first fire. My statements will now be confirmed by none other than the Word of Wisdom, who is this God begotten from the Universal Father, and who is the Word and Wisdom and Power and Glory of Him who begot Him. Here are His words as spoken by Solomon: "If I shall declare to you what happens daily, I shall call to mind events from eternity, and recount them. The Lord begot Me in the beginning of His ways for His works. I was set up from eternity, before He made the earth, and before He made the depths, before the fountains of waters had sprung out, before the mountains had been established. Before all the hills He begets Me. God made the earth, and the desert, and the highest inhabited places under the sky. When He prepared the heavens, I was present. When He set up His throne on the winds, when He established the clouds above, and strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He balanced the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging all things. I was that in which He delighted; daily and at all times I delighted in His presence, because He rejoiced for having finished the habitable world, and delighted in the sons of men. Now therefore, My son, hear Me. Blessed is the man that heareth Me, and the man that shall keep My ways, watching daily at My gates, and waiting at the posts of My doors, for My ways are the ways of life; and My will has been prepared by the Lord. But they that sin against Me, hurt their own souls, and they that hate Me love death."'³

1 Gen. 18.1·2.

2 Gen. 19.27·28.

3 Cen. 18.10.

4 Gen. 21.9-12.

5 Gen. 21.12.

6 Gen. 19.23·25.

7 Ps. 109.1.

8 Ps. 44.7-8.

9 Gen. 18.13-14.

10 Gen. 18.16·17.

11 Gen. 18.20·23.

12 Gen. 18.33-19.1.

13 Gen 19.10.

14 Gen. 19.16-26.

15 Gen. 19.24.

1 Ps. 77.25.

1 Gen. 31.10-14.

2 Gen. 32.22-31.

3 Gen. 35.6-10.

4 Gen. 28.10·19.

2 Exod. 2.23.

3 Exod. 3.16.

1 Exod. 3.2-4.

2 Gen. 35.7.

1 Archen: 'beginning,' not 'in the beginning.' Maran notes that Justin does not allude to the eternal generation of the Son, but to that by which the Father is said to have generated Him as the beginning of all creatures. Cf. Migne, PC 6.613, n.77.

2 The lumen de lumine, incorporated, through Tertullian, into the Nicene Creed.

3 Prov. 8.1-36. (Dialogue with Trypho, pp. 231-245)

Note how Justin believes that Jesus is the One who appeared to Abraham and destroyed Sodom, and who caused Sarah to conceive. Jesus is also the Angel who appeared to Jacob and was the Man whom the patriarch wrestled. Christ is even said to be the Angel in the burning bush and the Captain that appeared to Joshua.

Most interesting is Justin’s analogy of a man begetting a word without it being cut off from himself, and likening it to the Son’s begetting from before all creatures. This shows that Justin believed that the Son remained inseparable from the Father, since the begetting did not result in God being cut off from his rational Power/Word.    

Jesus Christ: the Psalmist’s LORD God

The final proof I present from the holy martyr is his statements that Jesus the LORD God whom the Psalmists claim reigns as King over creation.

Chapter 51

Furthermore, in order to make known to us that He who suffered these things had an indescribable origin, and rules over His enemies, the Prophetic Spirit spoke thus: 'Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth; for their sins is He led to death. And I will give the wicked for His burial and the rich for His death, for He has done no wrong nor has any deceit been found in His mouth; and the Lord is pleased to cleanse Him of the blow. If He shall be given over for sin, your soul shall see His seed prolonged. And the Lord desires to free His soul of sorrow, and to show Him light, and form Him with knowledge, to justify the Just One who administers well to many. And He shall bear our sins; for this He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong; because His soul was consigned to death, and He was reputed with the wicked, and He has borne the sins of many, and because of their sins He was delivered Up.'¹ Hear, too, the prophecy of how He was to ascend into Heaven. Thus was it spoken: 'Lift up the gates of Heaven, and be ye opened, that the King of Glory may enter. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong, and the Lord mighty.'² And hear what the Prophet Jeremias said about how He was to come again from Heaven in glory. These are his words: 'Behold, as the Son of Man He comes upon the clouds of heaven, and His angels with Him.'³

1 Isa.53.8·12.

2 Ps. 23.7.8.

3 This passage is not found in Jeremias. but in Daniel 7.13.  (The First Apology, p. 88)

Here’s the Psalm that Justin quoted:

“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift yourselves up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is He, this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.” Psalm 24:7-10

By ascribing this Psalm to Jesus, Justin has basically identified Christ as the Most High God besides whom there is none higher!

This is because the Psalms explicitly state that YHWH alone sits enthroned as the Most High over all creatures:

“That they may know that You alone—Your name is Yahweh— Are the Most High over all the earth.” Psalm 83:18

“Yahweh reigns, He is clothed with majesty; Yahweh has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” Psalm 93:1-2

This next one is quite interesting:

“For You are Yahweh Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.” Psalm 97:9

Since YHWH is exalted far above all the gods, and since Jesus is that YHWH according to Justin, this proves that this beloved saint of Christ could not have thought of Jesus as a secondary, inferior deity to the Father.

 There’s more:

“Who is like Yahweh our God, The One who sits on high,” Psalm 113:5

The obvious answer is that there is no one who sits on high besides YHWH. And yet Jesus is that very YHWH God according to Justin!

And:

“Yodh All Your works, O Yahweh, shall give thanks to You, And Your holy ones shall bless You. Kaph They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your might; Lamedh To make known to the sons of men His mighty deeds And the glory of the majesty of His kingdom. Mem Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures from generation to every generation.” Psalm 145:10-13  

Finally:

“Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For His name alone is set on high; His splendor is above earth and heaven.” Psalm 148:13

These examples should put this anti-Trinitarian canard to rest as far as Justin’s Trinitarian beliefs are concerned. There’s no way that this holy martyr of Christ could have believed that Jesus is not as kingly and righteous as the Father, seeing how he emphatically affirms that the Son, not the Father, is the One who appears throughout the Psalms (and the rest of the OT for that matter) as YHWH God Almighty. You can’t get any higher, kingly or glorious than that!

So much for the desperate attempt by anti-Trinitarians to butcher this beloved saint’s emphatic witness to and love for the Most Holy and Glorious Trinity.

Scriptural references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

Further Reading

A Catholic Misreads Justin?

AN ORTHODOX’S MISREADING OF JUSTIN

MORE ON JUSTIN MARTYR’S CHRISTOLOGY

Justin: Worshiping the Uncreated, Timeless Son

Justin Martyr: No Other God But Jesus

Justin: The Father’s Glory is the Son’s Glory

Justin’s Christology Revisited Once Again

JUSTIN MARTYR'S CHRISTOLOGY REVISITED

Justin on Christ as the Incorruptible Word of God