Thursday, April 26, 2007

Justin on the cross

In chapters 89-102 we see Justin dealing with another of Trypho's insightful objections. As a Jew, Trypho objects to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, if, as someone who was crucified he was cursed.

Justin answers by (1) pointing to OT passages which he sees pointing towards the cross (2) claiming that the curse Jesus had on the cross referred to him being cursed by those who crucified him.

Considering current debates, it is interesting to see Justin's views on the atonement:

(1) Christ's death was on account of human sin.
(2) Jesus took upon himself the curse of humanity.
(3) This was according to the will of the Father.
(4) Christ's death is seen as the destruction of Satan, and evil angels and humans, but life for the righteous.

Another interesting nugget is the way in which Justin seeks to tie the virgin birth to the atonement:

" and that He became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her "

Another good question from Trypho

In chapter 87 Trypho asks another of his good questions. Basically he wants to know how Justin can claim that Christ is pre-existent and at the same time apply Isaiah 11:1 to him, if this verse suggests that the root of Jesse has yet to receive "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety: and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill Him".

For once, Justin gives a straight (not short chs 87-89!) answer and avoids patronizing Trypho. For Justin this means not that Christ needed these gifts; but rather that they find their fulfilment in him. Rather more controversially he argues in chapter 89 that the descent of the Spirit on Christ when he was baptised was not for his sake, but for the sake of the faith of humans.

Two significant theological points to make are:

(i) Justin sees the "charismatic" spiritual gifts as still being in operation, and women being recipients of such gifts alongside men.
(ii) Justin understands both angels and humans as having free will, and that they receive blessing or punishment according to how they exercise this free will.

Justin and Prophecy

In chapters 83-86 Justin continues to interpret the OT Christologically to justify the Christian faith. Whilst I sympathise with his approach, it is rather disconcerting to observe that he seems unaware that this is what he is doing. Hence, not all the arguments that he uses to defend the objectivity of his position (e.g. the superiority of the LXX over the Hebrew text of the OT) are convincing.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Justin's Eschatology

Justin's eschatology can be summarized in the following words from Chapter 80

"But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, [as] the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare."

As regards debates on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the following from Chapter 82 is of note:

"For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time."

Justin on the Virgin Birth

Chapters 67-78 provide us with a lengthy rather tedious discussion on the virgin birth. Trypho objects to this teaching claiming
(1) There are parallels in Greek mythology.
(2) The prophecy from Isaiah refers to a young woman and was fulfilled in Hezekiah.

Justin answers (1) with his concept of demonic imitation of Christian teaching
(2) He begins with a very unconvincing claim that the Jews distorted the LXX. He has a stronger argument in affirming that it is hard to see the prophecy fully fulfilled in Hezekiah, leading him to search for a Christological referent.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Discussing Old Testament Monotheism

In chapters 55-66 Justin continues to engage the remarkable patient Trypho, seeking to defend from the OT the divinity of Christ.

Justin builds upon certain Old Testament passages which point to a dynamic monotheism, especially those where the Angel of the Lord is referred to as God/Lord, and the passages in Proverbs where the Wisdom of God is hypostasised. He sees these as references to Christ, although he is not prepared to admit that one needs the New Testament to make such a conclusion.

However, the Christology that Justin develops is not without its own problems. His christology is subordinationist, and is worryingly concerned with insisting that the Son is "numerically distinct" from the Father. One can see how this could be pushed in an Arian direction to affirm that the Son does not share in the divine essence.

Blood?

In the midst of his describing Messianic prophecies, Justin makes what seems to be a strange Christological comment in chapter 54

"Christ derives blood not from the seed of man, but from the power of God"

using this to claim that

"Christ is not man of men, begotten in the ordinary course of humanity.”

Messiah

Chapters 47-52 see Justin debating Trypho on the Messiahship of Jesus. On the whole, Justin is more convincing when he seeks to claim that John the Baptist came in the Spirit of Elijah, less convincing when he tries to read a reference to two comings of Christ in Jacob's blessing of Judah in Genesis.

Another line of argument I do not know what to make of is the claim that Jesus' messiahship is supported by the fact that after John the Baptist no new prophet emerged amongst the people of Israel.

Can one keep the law

Chapters 46-47 deal with Justin's answer to Trypho's next question, concerning whether a Christian can keep the Mosaic law and still be saved. Justin's answer is that they could, but they shouldn't. In this he claims to be more moderate than many other Christians who cast off completely those who seek to keep the law.

Justin also views apostasy as a real possibility. That is, for Justin it is possible for someone who believed in Christ to reject him and thus no longer be saved.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Trypho inquires

Whatever one may think of Trypho, it is difficult to deny that he is able to ask good questions. His next question is what happens to those who died before Christ came.

Justin's answer is that they are saved according to their righteousness, but through Christ, who destroyed the power of the devil and of death.

Salvation and Jesus

In chapters 43-44 Justin is quite clear that Jesus is the only means of salvation for Jews and Gentiles, for Jesus is the end of the OT law bringing "everlasting law", "everlasting covenant" and "spiritual circumcision."

However, he is on exegetically weak ground when he seeks to argue for the reading "virgin" in Isaiah 9 against the "young woman" of his Jewish opponents.

Justin and Typology

In chapters 40-42 Justin engages in typological exegesis, reading the New Testament into the Old. In my "salad days when I was green in judgement" when I was more enamoured with the Historical-Critical Method I would have rubbished such an approach. However, these days I acknowledge that at least Justin makes the offering of fine flour which was offered by the lepers be of relevance to his contemporaries by linking it to the Eucharist.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Justin and Hermeneutics ctd...

In chapters 36-39 the dialogue takes an interesting turn. Justin justifies the Christian faith, especially the adoration of Jesus, by interpreting the Old Testament Christologically. Naturally, for Trypho, this is blasphemy, and he worries that Justin may, to quote the first dog to visit this blog, be "barking mad."

The role of heresy

For Justin, the existence of heresy, in a funny sort of way, confirms the truth of the Gospel, as the coming of heretics was predicted by Jesus and the New Testament. (Ch 35)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Hermeneutical controversies

In chapters 32-34 we see Trypho and Justin exchanging hermeneutical arguments.

Trypho quite understandably objects to Justin's use of scripture, and especially to his equating of Jesus with the Messiah when from the Jewish perspective Jesus was a failure.

Justin responds by interpreting Isaiah 53 christologically, and reiterating two comings of Christ, one in humility, another in glory. He also argues at length why Old Testament Psalms [which he believes were dictated to David by the Holy Spirit] should be interpreted christologically.

Justin's power evangelism?

Chapters 30-31 raised my eyebrows concerning Justin's apologetic use of spiritual warfare. An argument for the Christian faith is the power of the name of Jesus in the casting out of demons. Justin then quotes from the book of Daniel to emphasise that Jesus' power will be even greater at his second coming.

A good question

In chapters 26-29 Justin has to face a good question from Trypho concerning his rather selective use of the Old Testament. Trypho is particularly annoyed at the way in which Justin seems to overlook those passages which do not support Justin's perspective.

Justin's reply is to repeat his argument that the law was given due to the hardness of the heart of the Jews. His hermeneutics can be summarized in the following quote:

"They are contained in your scriptures, or rather not yours, but ours. For we believe them but you... do not catch the spirit that is in them."

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Law and Hard Hearts

In chapters 14-25 Justin continues with his barrage on law-keeping. His main arguments are:

(1) The Jews err by not realising the spiritual meaning that the law pointed to.
(2) Prior to Moses there was no law, nonetheless there were still many considered righteous before God.
(3) Justin also explores considerably the concept of the law being given due to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews. Hence, the law is not presented as being essential to God's will, but more of an emergency measure to avoid more sinning and idolatry. To back up his argument Justin makes use of the OT prophetic rhetoric against Israel. However, the tone takes an unfortunate direction when it moves from being a Jewish critique of fellow countrymen, to being appropriated by an "outsider", a Christian.
(4) A more bizarre argument is developed concerning circumcision, which for Justin was established by God to set the Jews aside as the ones who crucified Jesus (therefore, Justin has to ignore the role played by the "uncircumcised" Romans, an unfortunately too common move in Christian theology).

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Jesus the New Law

Briefly:
Chapters 10-13 introduce the division between Trypho and Justin. For Trypho, Christians are in error for not keeping the law. For Justin, Jews are in error for not recognising the new law, the new covenant, Jesus and seeks to quote the OT to prove his point.