THE MEMOIRS INTENDED BY JUSTIN MARTYR.[1]
Great importance attaches to them in connection with other facts.
The date of Justin’s birth is uncertain, being placed as early as A.D.
85, and as late as A.D. 114; Rev. Mr. Wright says about A.D. 100. His
martyrdom was about A.D. 165. His father and grandfather were probably
of Roman origin. Before his conversion to Christianity, he studied in
the schools of the philosophers, but after that he became an Evangelist,
and a vigorous writer in defence of the Christian faith. It is probable
that he travelled much. He was not the first that wrote an Apology for
Christians, but his are the earliest extant. Besides these, he wrote
a much larger work (the Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew), a work on the
resurrection, and some others; and by some, he has been regarded as the
author of the Pastor Hermas. His first and principal Apology, of the
probable date of A.D. 138-9, was addressed as follows:
“To the Emperor Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus
Cæsar, and to his son Verissimus, the philosopher, and to
Lucius, the philosopher, the natural son of Cæsar, and the
adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the Sacred
Senate, with the whole people of the Romans, I, Justin, the son
of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, native of Flavia Neapolis
in Palestine, present this address and petition in behalf
of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and wantonly
abused, myself being one of them.”
Those to whom this formal address was made, would not be expected to know
anything about Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John; but it was otherwise, in
respect to the Old Testament, for Jewish synagogues were in every city,
and the Septuagint had been known for three hundred years.
In this Apology he explains some of the teachings of our Lord, and the
usages of his disciples; and in respect to the last, are these passages:
“For the Apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are
called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined
upon them; that Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks
said, ‘This do ye in remembrance of me, this is my body;’ and
that, after the same manner having taken the cup and given
thanks, he said, ‘This is my blood;’ and he gave it to them
alone.”... “And we afterwards continually remind each other
of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and
we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are
supplied, we bless the Maker of all, through his Son Jesus
Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called
Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather
together to one place, and the Memoirs of the Apostles or the
writings of the Prophets are read, as long as time permits;
then when the reader has ceased, the president verbally
instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.
Then we all rise together and pray, and as we before said, when
our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and
the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings
according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen;
and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of
that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are
absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are
well-to-do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what
is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the
orphans and widows, and those who, through sickness or any
other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the
strangers sojourning among us, and in a word, takes care of
all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all
hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which
God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made
the world; and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, on the same day rose
from the dead. For he was crucified on the day before that of
Saturn (Saturday): and on the day after that of Saturn, which
is the day of the Sun, having appeared to his apostles and
disciples, he taught them these things, which we have submitted
to you also for your consideration.”
This passage is a part of chapter sixty-six, and the whole of chapter
sixty-seven.
The great question is, What were these “Memoirs of the Apostles,” which
were thus read with the writings of the Prophets? It is a question of
interpretation.
By the rule adopted in courts, these words are to be construed with the
context, and in connection with other writings of Justin in relation
to the same subject, and also in the light of all the surrounding
circumstances.
These precise terms are first used in chapter sixty-seven. The same
Memoirs, evidently, in chapter sixty-six, are described as Memoirs
“composed” by the Apostles. They are not again referred to in this
Apology. They are referred to several times in the Dialogue, chapters one
hundred to one hundred and eight, by the following terms: The Memoirs of
His Apostles; The Memoirs of His Apostles; The Memoirs of His Apostles;
The Memoirs of the Apostles; _For in the Memoirs which I say were drawn
up by his Apostles and those who followed them_; The Memoirs of His
Apostles; The Memoirs; The Memoirs; The Memoirs; The Memoirs of the
Apostles; The Memoirs of Him; The Memoirs of His Apostles; The Memoirs.
Four times he calls them The Memoirs; three times The Memoirs of the
Apostles; five times The Memoirs of His Apostles; and once, The Memoirs
of Him, _i. e._, Christ, as Roberts and Donaldson interpret it,[2] and as
the context and the whole scope indicate.
It is plain that the same “Memoirs” are intended throughout, under these
various terms.
In chapter eighty-eight of the Dialogue, in mentioning the descent of the
Holy Ghost upon Jesus at his baptism, Justin says that when he came out
of the water, the Holy Ghost lighted on him like a dove, as “the Apostle
of this very Christ of ours wrote.” The incident is mentioned in all four
of the Gospels.
But for his explanation elsewhere, it would be inferred that _all_ the
“Memoirs” were “composed” by the Apostles. But he carefully explains his
meaning, so that the “Memoirs,” or some of them, may have been “drawn up”
either by the Apostles, or by those who followed them.
It is obvious that these Memoirs were not biographies or sketches by
unknown or irresponsible persons, but writings well understood by the
Churches to have been “composed” or “drawn up” by the Apostles, or with
their approval.
As Mark was understood to be Peter’s interpreter, so Luke was understood
to have been Paul’s companion, and to have written under his sanction.
And Paul was an Apostle, although not one of the twelve.
Justin had informed the Roman Emperor[3] of the Apostles, and he gave
like information to Trypho.[3] He meant that all who should read should
know that what he gave of the life and teachings of Christ was not from
irresponsible sources, but from writings expressly sanctioned, if not
actually written, by those whom Christ had selected as witnesses.
These Memoirs, therefore, were doubtless understood _by Justin, and by
the church in general_, in city and country, to have been the productions
of Apostles or their companions. They were read the same as the Prophets,
and placed upon the same footing. Justin, in writing to Trypho, speaks of
having believed GOD’S VOICE SPOKEN BY THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST.
And since, in speaking of their actual composition, he uses the plural,
“Apostles,” we should look for two or more Memoirs, “drawn up,” by
Apostles.
Now what were these Memoirs? What writings will answer the description?
Matthew[4] and Mark will, according to what the Presbyter said of them.
Were there any others? There should be one more at least, that was
written by an Apostle, else wherefore, the _plural_? The four Gospels
that have come down to us, answer the description in every particular. To
use a legal phrase,—“From the time whereof the memory of man runneth not
to the contrary,” two of them have been accepted in the Church as having
been composed by Apostles, and two, by companions of Apostles.
Unless it can be shown that when Justin wrote, there were _other_ Memoirs
of Christ _that will answer to his description_, our four Gospels and no
others were intended. _Were_ there any besides these?
[1] The quotations from Justin Martyr are from Vol. II. of the
Ante-Nicene Christian Library, edited by Roberts and Donaldson.
[2] See _post_, c. 7, note 14.
[3] “For from Jerusalem there went out into the world men, twelve in
number, ... who proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by
Christ to teach all the word of God” (Ap. c. 39). “And by those things
which were published in his name among all nations by the Apostles”
(_ibid._ c. 42). “His Apostles going forth from Jerusalem preached
everywhere” (_ibid._ c. 45.) “And further there was a certain man with us
whose name was John, one of the Apostles of Christ” (Dia. c. 81). “For
as he (Abraham) believed the voice of God, and it was imputed to him for
righteousness, in like manner we, having believed God’s voice spoken
by the Apostles of Christ, and promulgated to us by the prophets, have
renounced even to death all the things of the world” (_ibid._ c. 119).
[4] The writer of Barnabas, in quoting as in Matthew xx. 16, had used
the authoritative Latin formula (_it is written_) for quotations from
Scripture, as follows: “Let us beware lest we be found, as it is written,
‘Many are called but few are chosen’” (_Ep. of Bar._ c. 4).