Misplaced Pages

#838161

131-450: Hanegraaff has argued that The True Word was written shortly after the death of Justin Martyr (who was possibly the first Christian apologist ), and was probably a response to his work. Origen stated that Celsus was from the first half of the 2nd century AD, although the majority of modern scholars have come to a general consensus that Celsus probably wrote around AD 170 to 180. All that

262-412: A ba , the set of spiritual characteristics unique to each individual. Unlike the ka , the ba remained attached to the body after death. Egyptian funeral rituals were intended to release the ba from the body so that it could move freely, and to rejoin it with the ka so that it could live on as an akh . However, it was also important that the body of the deceased be preserved by mummification, as

393-580: A Mass and an Office composed for his feast day , which he set at 14 April, one day after the date of his death as indicated in the Martyrology of Florus; but since this date quite often falls within the main Paschal celebrations, the feast was moved in 1968 to 1 June, the date on which he has been celebrated in the Byzantine Rite since at least the 9th century. Justin is remembered in

524-475: A Platonist thinker who had recently settled in his city. Some time afterwards, he chanced upon an old man, possibly a Syrian Christian, in the vicinity of the seashore, who engaged him in a dialogue about God and spoke of the testimony of the prophets as being more reliable than the reasoning of philosophers. There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by God, who spoke by

655-562: A belief system that would afford theological and metaphysical inspiration to their young pupil. He says he tried first the school of a Stoic philosopher, who was unable to explain God's being to him. He then attended a Peripatetic philosopher but was put off because the philosopher was too eager for his fee. Then he went to hear a Pythagorean philosopher who demanded that he first learn music, astronomy, and geometry, which he did not wish to do. Subsequently, he adopted Platonism after encountering

786-587: A brief period, in the theology promulgated by the pharaoh Akhenaten , a single god, the Aten , replaced the traditional pantheon. Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology left behind many writings and monuments, along with significant influences on ancient and modern cultures. The religion declined following the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC and Egyptians began converting to Christianity . In addition practices such as mummification halted. The Ancient Egyptian religion

917-544: A collection of sayings for exposition purposes has been disputed by scholar Arthur Bellinzoni . The question of whether the harmonized gospel materials found in Justin's writings came from a preexisting gospel harmony or were assembled as part of an integral process of creating scriptural prooftexts is an ongoing subject of scholarly investigation. The following excerpt from 1 Apol . 33:1,4–5 (partial parallel in Dial . 84) on

1048-479: A critical attack on Christianity, ridiculing many of its dogmas. He wrote that some Jews said Jesus's father was actually a Roman soldier named Pantera. Origen considered this a fabricated story. In addition, Celsus addressed the miracles of Jesus , holding that "Jesus performed his miracles by sorcery ( γοητεία )": O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of

1179-530: A few gods who, at various points, rose to supreme importance in Egyptian religion. These included the royal patron Horus, the sun-god Ra, and the mother-goddess Isis. During the New Kingdom ( c.  1550 – c.  1070 BC ), Amun held this position. The theology of the period described in particular detail Amun's presence in and rule over all things, so that he, more than any other deity, embodied

1310-417: A god often associated with chaos. Osiris' sister and wife Isis resurrected him so that he could conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then entered the underworld and became the ruler of the dead. Once grown, Horus fought and defeated Set to become king himself. Set's association with chaos, and the identification of Osiris and Horus as the rightful rulers, provided a rationale for pharaonic succession and portrayed

1441-537: A god. It seems most likely that the Egyptians viewed royal authority itself as a divine force. Therefore, although the Egyptians recognized that the pharaoh was human and subject to human weakness, they simultaneously viewed him as a god, because the divine power of kingship was incarnated in him. He therefore acted as intermediary between Egypt's people and the gods. He was key to upholding Ma'at , both by maintaining justice and harmony in human society and by sustaining

SECTION 10

#1732765176839

1572-486: A loyal citizen of the Roman Empire and a devoted believer in the ancient Greek religion and the religion in ancient Rome , distrustful of Christianity as new and foreign. Thomas remarks that Celsus "is no genius as a philosopher". Nonetheless, most scholars, including Thomas, agree that Origen's quotations from The True Word reveal that the work was well-researched. Celsus demonstrates extensive knowledge of both

1703-569: A millennium, and generally in the Christian eschatology . Opposition to Judaism was common among church leaders in his day; however, Justin Martyr was hostile towards Jewry and regarded Jews as an accursed people. His anti-Judaic polemics have been cited as an origin of Christian antisemitism. However his views elaborated in the Dialogue with Trypho were tame compared to those of John Chrysostom and others. Justin, like others, thought that

1834-466: A more personal way, asking for blessings, help, or forgiveness for wrongdoing. Such prayers are rare before the New Kingdom, indicating that in earlier periods such direct personal interaction with a deity was not believed possible, or at least was less likely to be expressed in writing. They are known mainly from inscriptions on statues and stelae left in sacred sites as votive offerings . Among

1965-506: A noble family in possession of his remains sent them in 1873 to a priest in Baltimore for safekeeping. They were displayed in St. Mary's Church for a period of time before they were again locked away for safekeeping. The remains were rediscovered and given a proper burial at St. Mary's, with Vatican approval, in 1989. It is now asserted that the bones were of St. Justin of the third century who

2096-550: A philosopher and a martyr and the earliest antagonist of heretics . Hippolytus and Methodius of Olympus also mention or quote him. Eusebius of Caesarea deals with him at some length, and names the following works: Eusebius implies that other works were in circulation; from St Irenaeus he knows of the apology "Against Marcion," and from Justin's "Apology" of a "Refutation of all Heresies". St Epiphanius and St Jerome mention Justin. Rufinus borrows from his Latin original of Hadrian 's letter. After Rufinus, Justin

2227-407: A set literary formula, designed to expound on the nature, aspects, and mythological functions of a given deity. They tend to speak more explicitly about fundamental theology than other Egyptian religious writings, and became particularly important in the New Kingdom, a period of particularly active theological discourse. Prayers follow the same general pattern as hymns, but address the relevant god in

2358-399: A similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that

2489-603: A symposium round a swamp, or worms in conventicle in a corner of the mud . It is not known how many were Christians at the time of Celsus (the Jewish population of the empire may have been about 6.6–10% in a population of 60 million to quote one reference). Justin Martyr Justin , known posthumously as Justin Martyr ( Greek : Ἰουστῖνος ὁ Μάρτυς , romanized :  Ioustînos ho Mártys ; c.  AD 100  – c.  AD 165 ), also known as Justin

2620-701: A thorough Hellene, while Semisch and Otto defend him from this charge. In opposition to the school of Ferdinand Christian Baur , who considered him a Jewish Christian, Albrecht Ritschl has argued that it was precisely because he was a Gentile Christian that he did not fully understand the Old Testament foundation of Paul's teaching, and explained in this way the modified character of his Paulinism and his legal mode of thought. Engelhardt has attempted to extend this line of treatment to Justin's entire theology, and to show that his conceptions of God, of free will and righteousness, of redemption, grace, and merit prove

2751-452: A vast and varying set of beliefs and practices, linked by their common focus on the interaction between the world of humans and the world of the divine. The characteristics of the gods who populated the divine realm were inextricably linked to the Egyptians' understanding of the properties of the world in which they lived. The Egyptians believed that the phenomena of nature were divine forces in and of themselves. These deified forces included

SECTION 20

#1732765176839

2882-453: Is commonly assumed to have taken place at Ephesus though it may have occurred anywhere on the road from Syria Palestina to Rome. He then adopted the dress of a philosopher himself and traveled about teaching. During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161), he arrived in Rome and started his own school. Tatian was one of his pupils. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius , after disputing with

3013-520: Is dependent on Tatian; Von Harnack placed it between 180 and 240. After this medieval period in which no authentic works of Justin Martyr were in widespread circulation, a single codex containing the complete works of Justin Martyr was discovered and purchased by Guillaume Pellicier , c.  1540 in Venice. Pellicier sent it to the Bibliothèque nationale de France where it remains today under

3144-621: Is dependent upon Clement of Alexandria , and was assigned by Pierre Batiffol to the Novatian Bishop Sisinnius ( c.  400 ). The extant work under the title "On the Sovereignty of God" does not correspond with Eusebius' description of it, though Adolf von Harnack regarded it as still possibly Justin's, and at least of the 2nd century. The author of the smaller treatise To the Greeks cannot be Justin, because he

3275-414: Is derived mostly from hymns that detail the roles of specific deities, from ritual and magical texts which describe actions related to mythic events, and from funerary texts which mention the roles of many deities in the afterlife. Some information is also provided by allusions in secular texts. Finally, Greeks and Romans such as Plutarch recorded some of the extant myths late in Egyptian history. Among

3406-513: Is known about Celsus himself comes from the surviving text of his book and from what Origen says about him. Although Origen initially refers to Celsus as an Epicurean , his arguments reflect ideas of the Platonic tradition, rather than Epicureanism. Origen attributes this to Celsus's inconsistency, but modern historians see it instead as evidence that Celsus was not an Epicurean at all. Joseph Wilson Trigg states that Origen probably confused Celsus,

3537-441: Is not lacking for it. Another fragment takes up the positive proof of the resurrection, adducing that of Christ and of those whom he recalled to life. In yet another fragment the resurrection is shown to be that of what has gone down, i.e., the body; the knowledge concerning it is the new doctrine, in contrast to that of the old philosophers. The doctrine follows from the command to keep the body in moral purity. The authenticity of

3668-543: Is the new law for all men. Justin's dialogue with Trypho is unique in that he provides information on tensions between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus of the second century (Dial. 47:2–3) and in acknowledging the existence of a range, and a variety, of attitudes toward the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish believers in Jesus. The treatise On the Resurrection exists in extensive fragments that are preserved in

3799-610: Is too close to be anything but a conscious following of the Greek. The Against Marcion is lost, as is the Refutation of all Heresies to which Justin himself refers in Apology , i. 26; Hegesippus , besides perhaps Irenaeus and Tertullian, seems to have used it. Flacius discovered "blemishes" in Justin's theology, which he attributed to the influence of pagan philosophers; and in modern times Semler and S.G. Lange have made him out

3930-807: Is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Churches , Lutheran Churches , and in Anglicanism . Justin Martyr was born c.  AD 90–100 , into a Greek family, at Flavia Neapolis (today Nablus ) near the ancient biblical city of Shechem , in Samaria . He knew little or no Hebrew and Aramaic , and had only a passing acquaintance with Judaism . His family may have been pagan, since he

4061-528: Is very much helped in his knowledge of the beginning and end of things, and of those matters which the philosopher ought to know, provided he has believed them... But pray that, above all things, the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by all, but only by the man to whom God and His Christ have imparted wisdom. Moved by the aged man's argument, Justin renounced both his former religious faith and his philosophical background, choosing instead to re-dedicate his life to

Celsus - Misplaced Pages Continue

4192-589: The Book of Revelation directly, yet he clearly refers to it, naming John as its author ( Dial . 81.4 "Moreover also among us a man named John, one of the apostles of Christ, prophesied in a revelation made to him that those who have believed on our Christ will spend a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that hereafter the general and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all will likewise take place"). Scholar Brooke Foss Westcott notes that this reference to

4323-806: The Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 1 June. The church of St. John the Baptist in Sacrofano , a few miles north of Rome, claims to have his relics. The Church of the Jesuits in Valletta, Malta, founded by papal decree in 1592 also boasts relics of this second century Saint. A case is also made that the relics of St. Justin are buried in Annapolis, Maryland. During a period of unrest in Italy,

4454-515: The Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus , illustrate the use of gospel narratives and sayings of Jesus in a testimony source and how Justin has adopted these "memoirs of the apostles" for his own purposes. And then, when Jesus had come to the river Jordan where John was baptizing , and when Jesus came down into the water, a fire was even kindled in the Jordan, and when He was rising up from the water,

4585-602: The First Apology and parallel passages in the Dialogue as a "kerygma source". A second source, which was used only in the Dialogue , may be identical to a lost dialogue attributed to Aristo of Pella on the divine nature of the Messiah , the Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus (c. 140). Justin brings in biblical quotes verbatim from these sources, and he often appears to be paraphrasing his sources very closely, even in his interpretive remarks. Justin occasionally uses

4716-516: The Gospel of John is uncertain. One possible reference to John is a saying that is quoted in the context of a description of Christian baptism ( 1 Apol . 61.4 – "Unless you are reborn, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven."). However, Koester contends that Justin obtained this saying from a baptismal liturgy rather than a written gospel. Justin's possible knowledge of John's gospel may be suggested by verbal similarities to John 3:4 directly after

4847-491: The Holy Spirit fluttered down upon Him in the form of a dove, as the apostles have written about this very Christ of ours. Ancient Egyptian religion B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on

4978-489: The Messiah . However, the law, while containing commandments intended to promote the true fear of God, had other prescriptions of a purely pedagogic nature, which necessarily ceased when Christ, their end, appeared; of such temporary and merely relative regulations were circumcision , animal sacrifices, the Sabbath , and the laws as to food. Through Christ, the abiding law of God has been fully proclaimed. In his character, as

5109-475: The Old and New Testaments and of both Jewish and Christian history. Celsus was also closely familiar with the literary features of ancient polemics. Celsus seems to have read at least one work by one of the second-century Christian apologists, possibly Justin Martyr or Aristides of Athens . From this reading, Celsus seems to have known which kinds of arguments Christians would be most vulnerable to. He also mentions

5240-546: The Ophites and Simonians , two Gnostic sects that had almost completely vanished by Origen's time. One of Celsus's main sources for Books I–II of The True Word was an earlier anti-Christian polemic written by an unknown Jewish author, whom Origen refers to as the "Jew of Celsus". This Jewish source also provides well-researched criticism of Christianity and, although Celsus was also hostile to Judaism, he occasionally relies on this Jewish author's arguments, if only to demonstrate

5371-459: The Sacra parallela . The fragments begin with the assertion that the truth, and God the author of truth, need no witness, but that as a concession to the weakness of men it is necessary to give arguments to convince those who gainsay it. It is then shown, after a denial of unfounded deductions, that the resurrection of the body is neither impossible nor unworthy of God, and that the evidence of prophecy

Celsus - Misplaced Pages Continue

5502-636: The Synoptic Gospels should be understood as referring to a written biography such as the Memorabilia of Xenophon because they preserve the authentic teachings of Jesus. However, scholar Helmut Koester has pointed out the Latin title "Memorabilia" was not applied to Xenophon's work until the Middle Ages, and it is more likely apomnemoneumata was used to describe the oral transmission of

5633-494: The annunciation and virgin birth of Jesus shows how Justin used harmonized gospel verses from Matthew and Luke to provide a scriptural proof of the messiahship of Jesus based on fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 . And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: 'Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will say in his name, God with us' (Mt 1:23). ...the power of God, coming down upon

5764-409: The cynic philosopher Crescens , he was denounced by the latter to the authorities, according to Tatian (Address to the Greeks 19) and Eusebius (HE IV 16.7–8). Justin was tried, together with six friends (two of them slaves educated by him; Euelpistus and Hierax), by the urban prefect Junius Rusticus , and was beheaded . Though the precise year of his death is uncertain, it can reasonably be dated by

5895-462: The pollution of mortality . Celsus attacks the Christians as feeding off faction and disunity, and accuses them of converting the vulgar and ignorant, while refusing to debate wise men. As for their opinions regarding their sacred mission and exclusive holiness, Celsus responds by deriding their insignificance, comparing them to a swarm of bats, or ants creeping out of their nest, or frogs holding

6026-452: The "true religion" that predated Christianity, that the "seeds of Christianity" (manifestations of the Logos acting in history) actually predated Christ's incarnation . This notion allows him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato ), in whose works he was well studied, as unknowing Christians . Justin was martyred , along with some of his students, and

6157-537: The Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings are still extant, and he who has read them

6288-462: The Egyptians believed that the ba returned to its body each night to receive new life, before emerging in the morning as an akh . In early times the deceased pharaoh was believed to ascend to the sky and dwell among the stars . Over the course of the Old Kingdom ( c.  2686 –2181 BC), however, he came to be more closely associated with the daily rebirth of the sun god Ra and with

6419-408: The Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present and in control of the world. About 1,500 deities are known. Rituals such as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaohs , the rulers of Egypt, believed to possess divine powers by virtue of their positions. They acted as intermediaries between their people and

6550-465: The Gospel of Matthew directly as a source for Old Testament prophecies to supplement his testimony sources. However, the fulfillment quotations from these sources most often appear to be harmonizations of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Koester suggests that Justin had composed an early harmony along the lines of his pupil Tatian 's Diatesseron . However, the existence of a harmony independent of

6681-659: The Greek philosophers had derived, if not borrowed, the most essential elements of truth found in their teaching from the Old Testament . But at the same time he adopted the Stoic doctrine of the "seminal word," and so philosophy was to him an operation of the Word—in fact, through his identification of the Word with Christ , it was brought into immediate connection with him. Thus he does not hesitate to declare that Socrates and Heraclitus were Christians ( Apol. , i. 46, ii. 10). His aim

SECTION 50

#1732765176839

6812-527: The New Kingdom, this material gave rise to several "books of the netherworld", including the Book of Gates , the Book of Caverns , and the Amduat . Unlike the loose collections of spells, these netherworld books are structured depictions of Ra's passage through the Duat, and by analogy, the journey of the deceased person's soul through the realm of the dead. They were originally restricted to pharaonic tombs, but in

6943-448: The Old and Middle Kingdoms their designs grew more elaborate, and they were increasingly built out of stone. In the New Kingdom, a basic temple layout emerged, which had evolved from common elements in Old and Middle Kingdom temples. With variations, this plan was used for most of the temples built from then on, and most of those that survive today adhere to it. In this standard plan, the temple

7074-636: The Philosopher , was an early Christian apologist and philosopher . Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The First Apology , his most well-known text, passionately defends the morality of the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius to abandon the persecution of the Church. Further, he also indicates, as St. Augustine would later, regarding

7205-559: The Third Intermediate Period they came to be used more widely. Temples existed from the beginning of Egyptian history, and at the height of the civilization they were present in most of its towns. They included both mortuary temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to patron gods, although the distinction was blurred because divinity and kingship were so closely intertwined. The temples were not primarily intended as places for worship by

7336-634: The afterlife. The relationships between deities could also be expressed in the process of syncretism , in which two or more different gods were linked to form a composite deity. This process was a recognition of the presence of one god "in" another when the second god took on a role belonging to the first. These links between deities were fluid, and did not represent the permanent merging of two gods into one; therefore, some gods could develop multiple syncretic connections. Sometimes, syncretism combined deities with very similar characteristics. At other times, it joined gods with very different natures, as when Amun,

7467-587: The afterlife. The spells appear in differing arrangements and combinations, and few of them appear in all of the pyramids. At the end of the Old Kingdom a new body of funerary spells, which included material from the Pyramid Texts, began appearing in tombs, inscribed primarily on coffins. This collection of writings is known as the Coffin Texts , and was not reserved for royalty, but appeared in

7598-513: The all-encompassing power of the divine. The Egyptian conception of the universe centered on Ma'at , a word that encompasses several concepts in English, including "truth", "justice", and "order". It was the fixed, eternal order of the universe, both in the cosmos and in human society, and was often personified as a goddess. It had existed since the creation of the world, and without it the world would lose its cohesion. In Egyptian belief, Ma'at

7729-476: The annual Nile flood and the succession from one king to another, but the most important was the daily journey of the sun god Ra. When thinking of the shape of the cosmos, the Egyptians saw the earth as a flat expanse of land, personified by the god Geb , over which arched the sky goddess Nut . The two were separated by Shu , the god of air. Beneath the Earth lay a parallel underworld and undersky, and beyond

7860-514: The apostles" analogously to indicate the trustworthy recollections of the apostles found in the written record of the gospels. Justin expounded on the gospel texts as an accurate recording of the fulfillment of prophecy , which he combined with quotations of the prophets of Israel from the LXX to demonstrate a proof from prophecy of the Christian kerygma . The importance which Justin attaches to

7991-464: The apostles" and "gospels" are equivalent, and the use of the plural indicates Justin's awareness of more than one written gospel. ("The apostles in the memoirs which have come from them, which are also called gospels, have transmitted that the Lord had commanded..."). Justin may have preferred the designation "memoirs of the apostles" as a contrast to the "gospel" of his contemporary Marcion to emphasize

SECTION 60

#1732765176839

8122-596: The author of The True Word , with a different Celsus, who was an Epicurean philosopher and a friend of the Syrian satirist Lucian . Celsus the Epicurean must have lived around the same time as the author of The True Word and he is mentioned by Lucian in his treatise On Magic . Both Celsus the friend of Lucian and Celsus the author of The True Word evidently shared a passionate zeal against superstitio , making it easy to see how Origen could have concluded that they were

8253-804: The author of the single prophetic book of the New Testament illustrates the distinction Justin made between the role of prophecy and fulfillment quotations from the gospels, as Justin does not mention any of the individual canonical gospels by name. The apologetic character of Justin's habit of thought appears again in the Acts of his martyrdom, the genuineness of which is attested by internal evidence. According to scholar Oskar Skarsaune , Justin relies on two main sources for his proofs from prophecy that probably circulated as collections of scriptural testimonies within his Christian school. He refers to Justin's primary source for demonstrating scriptural proofs in

8384-600: The belief that Jesus first came in humility, in fulfillment of prophecy, and will return in glory as the Messiah to the Gentiles . There are close literary parallels between the Christology of Justin's source and the Apocalypse of Peter . The following excerpts from the Dialogue with Trypho of the baptism ( Dial . 88:3,8) and temptation ( Dial . 103:5–6) of Jesus, which are believed to have originated from

8515-473: The bodies and spirits of the deceased. The religion had its roots in Egypt's prehistory and lasted for 3,500 years. The details of religious belief changed over time as the importance of particular gods rose and declined, and their intricate relationships shifted. At various times, certain gods became preeminent over the others, including the sun god Ra , the creator god Amun , and the mother goddess Isis . For

8646-645: The catalog number Parisinus graecus 450. This codex was completed on 11 September 1364 somewhere in the Byzantine Empire . The name of the scribe is unknown, although Manuel Kantakouzenos has been suggested as patron. Internal textual evidence shows that multiple older manuscripts were used to create this one, which strongly suggests that it must have originated in a major population center like Mistra , since libraries holding Justin Martyr were already rare by 1364. Other partial medieval manuscripts have been shown to be copies of this one. The editio princeps

8777-400: The connections between the historical testimony of the gospels and the Old Testament prophecies which Marcion rejected. The origin of Justin's use of the name "memoirs of the apostles" as a synonym for the gospels is uncertain. Scholar David E. Aune has argued that the gospels were modeled after classical Greco-Roman biographies, and Justin's use of the term apomnemoneumata to mean all

8908-433: The corruption of the ancient religion. "The goatherds and shepherds who followed Moses as their leader were deluded by clumsy deceits into thinking that there was only one God, [and] without any rational cause ... these goatherds and shepherds abandoned the worship of many gods". However, Celsus's harshest criticism was reserved for Christians, who "wall themselves off and break away from the rest of mankind". Celsus initiated

9039-457: The deceased soul traveled with Ra on his daily journey, was still primarily associated with royalty, but could extend to other people as well. Over the course of the Middle and New Kingdoms, the notion that the akh could also travel in the world of the living, and to some degree magically affect events there, became increasingly prevalent. During the New Kingdom the pharaoh Akhenaten abolished

9170-467: The discussion about the new birth ("Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter their mother's womb is manifest to all"). Justin also uses language very similar to that of John 1:20 and 1:28. Furthermore, by employing the term "memoirs of the apostles" and distinguishing them from the writings of their "followers", Justin must have been of the belief that at least two gospels were written by actual apostles. Justin does not quote from

9301-553: The dualism of both pagan and Gnostic philosophy. Justin was confident that his teaching was that of the Church at large. He knows of a division among the orthodox only on the question of the millennium and on the attitude toward the milder Jewish Christianity, which he personally is willing to tolerate as long as its professors in their turn do not interfere with the liberty of the Gentile converts; his millenarianism seems to have no connection with Judaism , but he believes firmly in

9432-481: The elements, animal characteristics, or abstract forces. The Egyptians believed in a pantheon of gods, which were involved in all aspects of nature and human society. Their religious practices were efforts to sustain and placate these phenomena and turn them to human advantage. This polytheistic system was very complex, as some deities were believed to exist in many different manifestations, and some had multiple mythological roles. Conversely, many natural forces, such as

9563-576: The existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshipping any but the Aten. Under Akhenaten's successors Egypt reverted to its traditional religion, and Akhenaten himself came to be reviled as a heretic. While the Egyptians had no unified religious scripture, they produced many religious writings of various types. Together the disparate texts provide an extensive, but still incomplete, understanding of Egyptian religious practices and beliefs. Egyptian myths were stories intended to illustrate and explain

9694-400: The formal rituals and institutions. The popular religious tradition grew more prominent over the course of Egyptian history as the status of the pharaoh declined. Egyptian belief in the afterlife and the importance of funerary practices is evident in the great efforts made to ensure the survival of their souls after death – via the provision of tombs, grave goods and offerings to preserve

9825-514: The general populace, and the common people had a complex set of religious practices of their own. Instead, the state-run temples served as houses for the gods, in which physical images which served as their intermediaries were cared for and provided with offerings. This service was believed to be necessary to sustain the gods, so that they could in turn maintain the universe itself. Thus, temples were central to Egyptian society, and vast resources were devoted to their upkeep, including both donations from

9956-453: The general populace. The Egyptians produced numerous prayers and hymns, written in the form of poetry. Hymns and prayers follow a similar structure and are distinguished mainly by the purposes they serve. Hymns were written to praise particular deities. Like ritual texts, they were written on papyri and on temple walls, and they were probably recited as part of the rituals they accompany in temple inscriptions. Most are structured according to

10087-467: The god associated with a place had originated there. For instance, the god Montu was original patron of the city of Thebes . Over the course of the Middle Kingdom , however, he was displaced in that role by Amun , who may have arisen elsewhere. The national popularity and importance of individual gods fluctuated in a similar way. Deities had complex interrelationships, which partly reflected

10218-401: The god of hidden power, was linked with Ra , the god of the sun. The resulting god, Amun-Ra, thus united the power that lay behind all things with the greatest and most visible force in nature. Many deities could be given epithets that seem to indicate that they were greater than any other god, suggesting some kind of unity beyond the multitude of natural forces. This is particularly true of

10349-629: The gods in art were not meant as literal representations of how the gods might appear if they were visible, as the gods' true natures were believed to be mysterious. Instead, these depictions gave recognizable forms to the abstract deities by using symbolic imagery to indicate each god's role in nature. This iconography was not fixed, and many of the gods could be depicted in more than one form. Many gods were associated with particular regions in Egypt where their cults were most important. However, these associations changed over time, and they did not mean that

10480-444: The gods through offerings and by performing rituals which staved off disorder and perpetuated the cycles of nature. The most important part of the Egyptian view of the cosmos was the conception of time, which was greatly concerned with the maintenance of Ma'at . Throughout the linear passage of time, a cyclical pattern recurred, in which Ma'at was renewed by periodic events which echoed the original creation. Among these events were

10611-449: The gods with temples and offerings. For these reasons, he oversaw all state religious activity. However, the pharaoh's real-life influence and prestige could differ from his portrayal in official writings and depictions, and beginning in the late New Kingdom his religious importance declined drastically. The king was also associated with many specific deities. He was identified directly with Horus , who represented kingship itself, and he

10742-415: The gods' actions and roles in nature. The details of the events they recounted could change to convey different symbolic perspectives on the mysterious divine events they described, so many myths exist in different and conflicting versions. Mythical narratives were rarely written in full, and more often texts only contain episodes from or allusions to a larger myth. Knowledge of Egyptian mythology, therefore,

10873-532: The gods, and were obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at , the order of the cosmos , and repel Isfet , which was chaos. The state dedicated enormous resources to religious rituals and to the construction of temples . Individuals could interact with the gods for their own purposes, appealing for help through prayer or compelling the gods to act through magic . These practices were distinct from, but closely linked with,

11004-494: The harmonized gospel narratives of Matthew and Luke were part of a tradition already circulating within Justin's school that expounded on the life and work of Jesus as the Messiah and the apostolic mission. Justin then rearranged and expanded these testimonia to create his First Apology . The "kerygma source" of prooftexts (contained within 1 Apol . 31–53) is believed to have had a Two Parousias Christology, characterized by

11135-402: The heart) to the feather of Ma'at, to determine whether he or she had behaved in accordance with Ma'at. If the deceased was judged worthy, his or her ka and ba were united into an akh . Several beliefs coexisted about the akh 's destination. Often the dead were said to dwell in the realm of Osiris, a lush and pleasant land in the underworld. The solar vision of the afterlife, in which

11266-873: The inconsistency of the Christian position, rather than argue for his own. Celsus was the author of a work titled The True Word ( Logos Alēthēs ). The argument was contested by the contemporary Christian community and the book was eventually banned in 448 AD by order of Valentinian III and Theodosius II , along with Porphyry 's 15 books attacking the Christians, The Philosophy from Oracles . No complete copies are extant, but it can be reconstructed from Origen's detailed account of it in his eight volume refutation, which quotes Celsus extensively. Origen's work has survived and has thereby preserved Celsus's work. Celsus seems to have been interested in Ancient Egyptian religion , and he seemed to know of Hellenistic Jewish logos-theology, both of which suggest The True Doctrine

11397-703: The influence of the cultivated Greek pagan world of the 2nd century, dominated by the Platonic and Stoic philosophy. But he admits that Justin is a Christian in his unquestioning adherence to the Church and its faith, his unqualified recognition of the Old Testament, and his faith in Christ as the Son of God the Creator, made manifest in the flesh, crucified, and risen, through which belief he succeeds in getting away from

11528-492: The interaction of the forces they represented. The Egyptians often grouped gods together to reflect these relationships. One of the more common combinations was a family triad consisting of a father, mother, and child, who were worshipped together. Some groups had wide-ranging importance. One such group, the Ennead , assembled nine deities into a theological system that was involved in the mythological areas of creation, kingship, and

11659-407: The life of Jesus and quotations of the sayings of Jesus as "memoirs of the apostles " ( Greek : ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν ἀποστόλων , romanized :  apomnêmoneúmata tôn apostólôn ) and less frequently as gospels ( Greek : εὐαγγέλιον , romanized :  euangélion ) which, Justin says, were read every Sunday in the church at Rome ( 1 Apol . 67.3 – "and the memoirs of the apostles or

11790-471: The monarchy and large estates of their own. Pharaohs often expanded them as part of their obligation to honor the gods, so that many temples grew to enormous size. However, not all gods had temples dedicated to them, as many gods who were important in official theology received only minimal worship, and many household gods were the focus of popular veneration rather than temple ritual. The earliest Egyptian temples were small, impermanent structures, but through

11921-512: The more terrible universal tribunal of Our Lord and Saviour. And all the martyrs said: Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols. The Prefect Rusticus read the sentence: Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws. The holy martyrs glorifying God betook themselves to the customary place, where they were beheaded and consummated their martyrdom confessing their Saviour. In 1882, Pope Leo XIII had

12052-468: The most significant and extensively preserved Egyptian writings are funerary texts designed to ensure that deceased souls reached a pleasant afterlife. The earliest of these are the Pyramid Texts . They are a loose collection of hundreds of spells inscribed on the walls of royal pyramids during the Old Kingdom, intended to magically provide pharaohs with the means to join the company of the gods in

12183-528: The nature of God were meant to express his firm opinion on points of doctrine, or to speculate on these matters. Specific points Justin addressed include that the Logos is "numerically distinct from the Father" though "born of the very substance of the Father," and that "through the Word, God has made everything." Justin used the metaphor of fire to describe the Logos as spreading like a flame, rather than "dividing"

12314-475: The official worship of other gods in favor of the sun-disk Aten . This is often seen as the first instance of true monotheism in history, although the details of Atenist theology are still unclear and the suggestion that it was monotheistic is disputed. The exclusion of all but one god from worship was a radical departure from Egyptian tradition and some see Akhenaten as a practitioner of monolatry or henotheism rather than monotheism, as he did not actively deny

12445-512: The one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men. Origen wrote his refutation in 248. Sometimes quoting, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes merely referring, Origen reproduces and replies to Celsus's arguments. Since accuracy

12576-510: The pharaohs as the upholders of order. At the same time, Osiris' death and rebirth were related to the Egyptian agricultural cycle, in which crops grew in the wake of the Nile inundation, and provided a template for the resurrection of human souls after death. Another important mythic motif was the journey of Ra through the Duat each night. In the course of this journey, Ra met with Osiris, who again acted as an agent of regeneration, so that his life

12707-536: The position of mainstream scholarship, contends that Justin regarded the fulfillment quotations of the gospels to be equal in authority. Justin uses material from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in the composition of the First Apology and the Dialogue , either directly, as in the case of Matthew, or indirectly through the use of a gospel harmony , which may have been composed by Justin or his school. However, his use, or even knowledge, of

12838-512: The prefectoral term of Rusticus (who governed from 162 and 168). The martyrdom of Justin preserves the court record of the trial. The Prefect Rusticus says: Approach and sacrifice, all of you, to the gods. Justin says: No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety. The Prefect Rusticus says: If you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy. Justin replies: That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at

12969-428: The redeeming acts of the life of Christ rather than upon the demonstration of the reasonableness and moral value of Christianity, though the fragmentary character of the latter works make it difficult to determine exactly to what extent this is true and how far the teaching of Irenaeus on redemption is derived from him. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia notes that scholars have differed on whether Justin's writings on

13100-765: The same person. Stephen Thomas states that Celsus may not have been a Platonist per se , but that he was clearly familiar with Plato . Celsus's actual philosophy appears to be a blend of elements derived from Platonism, Aristotelianism , Pythagoreanism , and Stoicism . Wilken likewise concludes that Celsus was a philosophical eclectic, whose views reflect a variety of ideas popular to a number of different schools. Wilken classifies Celsus as "a conservative intellectual", noting that "he supports traditional values and defends accepted beliefs". Theologian Robert M. Grant notes that Origen and Celsus actually agree on many points: "Both are opposed to anthropomorphism , to idolatry , and to any crudely literal theology." Celsus also writes as

13231-418: The sayings of Jesus in early Christianity . Papias uses a similar term meaning "remembered" ( apomnemoneusen ) when describing how Mark accurately recorded the "recollections of Peter ", and Justin also uses it in reference to Peter in Dial. 106.3, followed by a quotation found only in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 3:16–17). Therefore, according to Koester, it is likely that Justin applied the name "memoirs of

13362-480: The service of the Divine. His newfound convictions were only bolstered by the ascetic lives of the early Christians and the heroic example of the martyrs , whose piety convinced him of the moral and spiritual superiority of Christian doctrine. As a result, he thenceforth decided that the only option for him was to travel throughout the land, spreading the knowledge of Christianity as the "true philosophy." His conversion

13493-413: The significant Egyptian myths were the creation myths . According to these stories, the world emerged as a dry space in the primordial ocean of chaos. Because the sun is essential to life on earth, the first rising of Ra marked the moment of this emergence. Different forms of the myth describe the process of creation in various ways: a transformation of the primordial god Atum into the elements that form

13624-501: The skies lay the infinite expanse of Nu , the chaos and primordial watery abyss that had existed before creation. The Egyptians also believed in a place called the Duat , a mysterious region associated with death and rebirth, that may have lain in the underworld or in the sky. Each day, Ra traveled over the earth across the underside of the sky, and at night he passed through the Duat to be reborn at dawn. In Egyptian belief, this cosmos

13755-465: The state and military service. One of Celsus's bitterest complaints is that Christians refused to cooperate with civil society and held local customs and the ancient religions in contempt. The Christians viewed these as idolatrous and inspired by evil spirits, whereas polytheists like Celsus thought of them as the works of the Daemons, or the god's ministers, who ruled mankind in his place to keep him from

13886-558: The substance of the Father. He also defended the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity, as well as the virginal birth of Jesus Christ. The Encyclopedia states that Justin places the genesis of the Logos as a voluntary act of the Father at the beginning of creation, noting that this is an "unfortunate" conflict with later Christian teachings. Justin Martyr, in his First Apology (c. 155) and Dialogue with Trypho (c. 160), sometimes refers to written sources consisting of narratives of

14017-413: The sun, were associated with multiple deities. The diverse pantheon ranged from gods with vital roles in the universe to minor deities or "demons" with very limited or localized functions. It could include gods adopted from foreign cultures, and sometimes humans: deceased pharaohs were believed to be divine, and occasionally, distinguished commoners such as Imhotep also became deified. The depictions of

14148-399: The teacher of the new doctrine and promulgator of the new law, lies the essential nature of his redeeming work. The idea of an economy of grace, of a restoration of the union with God which had been destroyed by sin, is not foreign to him. It is noteworthy that in the "Dialogue" he no longer speaks of a "seed of the Word" in every man, and in his non-apologetic works the emphasis is laid upon

14279-552: The temple libraries. Temples themselves are also inscribed with such texts, often accompanied by illustrations. Unlike the ritual papyri, these inscriptions were not intended as instructions, but were meant to symbolically perpetuate the rituals even if, in reality, people ceased to perform them. Magical texts likewise describe rituals, although these rituals were part of the spells used for specific goals in everyday life. Despite their mundane purpose, many of these texts also originated in temple libraries and later became disseminated among

14410-545: The tombs of non-royal officials. In the New Kingdom, several new funerary texts emerged, of which the best-known is the Book of the Dead . Unlike the earlier books, it often contains extensive illustrations, or vignettes. The book was copied on papyrus and sold to commoners to be placed in their tombs. The Coffin Texts included sections with detailed descriptions of the underworld and instructions on how to overcome its hazards. In

14541-582: The treatise is not so generally accepted as are Justin's other works. Even so, earlier than the Sacra parallela , it is referred to by Procopius of Gaza (c. 465–528). Methodius appeals to Justin in support of his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:50 in a way that makes it natural to assume the existence of a treatise on the subject, to say nothing of other traces of a connection in thought both here in Irenaeus (V., ii.-xiii. 5) and in Tertullian, where it

14672-473: The ultimate unity of the One." Celsus shows himself familiar with the story of Jewish origins. Conceding that Christians are not without success in business ( infructuosi in negotiis ), Celsus wants them to be good citizens, to retain their own belief but worship the emperors and join their fellow citizens in defending the empire. This appeal on behalf of unity and mutual toleration nevertheless centers on submission to

14803-528: The underworld ruler Osiris as those deities grew more important. In the fully developed afterlife beliefs of the New Kingdom, the soul had to avoid a variety of supernatural dangers in the Duat, before undergoing a final judgement, known as the "Weighing of the Heart", carried out by Osiris and by the Assessors of Ma'at . In this judgement, the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive (symbolized by

14934-550: The virgin , overshadowed her and made her while yet a virgin to conceive (cf. Lk 1:35), and the angel of God proclaimed to her and said, 'Behold, you will conceive in the womb from the Holy Spirit and bear a son (Mt 1:20/Lk 1:31) and he will be called Son of the Most High (Lk 1:32). And you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21),' as those who have made memoirs of all things about our savior Jesus Christ taught... According to Skarsaune,

15065-537: The words of the prophets, which he regularly quotes with the formula "it is written", shows his estimate of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, the scriptural authority he attributes to the "memoirs of the apostles" is less certain. Koester articulates a majority view among scholars that Justin considered the "memoirs of the apostles" to be accurate historical records but not inspired writings, whereas scholar Charles E. Hill , though acknowledging

15196-462: The world, as the creative speech of the intellectual god Ptah , and as an act of the hidden power of Amun. Regardless of these variations, the act of creation represented the initial establishment of Ma'at and the pattern for the subsequent cycles of time. The most important of all Egyptian myths was the Osiris myth . It tells of the divine ruler Osiris, who was murdered by his jealous brother Set ,

15327-453: The worship of deceased pharaohs as gods. The elaborate beliefs about death and the afterlife reinforced the Egyptians theology in humans possessions a ka , or life-force, which left the body at the point of death. In life, the ka received its sustenance from food and drink, so it was believed that, to endure after death, the ka must continue to receive offerings of food, whose spiritual essence it could still consume. Each person also had

15458-456: The writings of the prophets are being read as long as it is allowable"). The designation "memoirs of the apostles" occurs twice in Justin's First Apology (66.3, 67.3–4) and thirteen times in the Dialogue , mostly in his interpretation of Psalm 22, whereas the term "gospel" is used only three times, once in 1 Apol. 66.3 and twice in the Dialogue . The single passage where Justin uses both terms ( 1 Apol. 66.3) makes it clear that "memoirs of

15589-476: Was built along a central processional way that led through a series of courts and halls to the sanctuary, which held a statue of the temple's god. Access to this most sacred part of the temple was restricted to the pharaoh and the highest-ranking priests. The journey from the temple entrance to the sanctuary was seen as a journey from the human world to the divine realm, a point emphasized by the complex mythological symbolism present in temple architecture. Well beyond

15720-628: Was composed in Alexandria. Origen indicates that Celsus was an Epicurean living under the Emperor Hadrian . Celsus writes that "there is an ancient doctrine [ archaios logos ] which has existed from the beginning, which has always been maintained by the wisest nations and cities and wise men". He leaves Jews and Moses out of those he cites (Egyptians, Syrians, Indians, Persians, Odrysians, Samothracians, Eleusinians, Hyperboreans, Galactophagoi, Druids, and Getae), and instead blames Moses for

15851-516: Was considered to have fully died in the 530s. Following the Arab conquest of Egypt under Amr ibn al-As , Egyptians started to convert to Islam . The beliefs and rituals now referred to as "ancient Egyptian religion" were integral within every aspect of Egyptian culture; thus the Egyptian language possessed no single term corresponding to the concept of religion. Ancient Egyptian religion consisted of

15982-423: Was constantly under threat from the forces of disorder, so all of society was required to maintain it. On the human level this meant that all members of society should cooperate and coexist; on the cosmic level it meant that all of the forces of nature—the gods—should continue to function in balance. This latter goal was central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptians sought to maintain Ma'at in the cosmos by sustaining

16113-450: Was essential to his refutation of The True Doctrine , most scholars agree that Origen is a reliable source for what Celsus wrote. Biblical scholar Arthur J. Droge has written that it is incorrect to refer to Celsus's perspective as polytheism . Instead, he was a henotheist , as opposed to the Jewish strict monotheism ; historian Wouter Hanegraaff explains that "the former has room for a hierarchy of lower deities which do not detract from

16244-400: Was inhabited by three types of sentient beings: one was the gods; another was the spirits of deceased humans, who existed in the divine realm and possessed many of the gods' abilities; living humans were the third category, and the most important among them was the pharaoh, who bridged the human and divine realms. Egyptologists have long debated the degree to which the pharaoh was considered

16375-609: Was known mainly from St Irenaeus and Eusebius or from spurious works. A considerable number of other works are given as Justin's by Arethas of Caesarea , Photius of Constantinople , and other writers, but this attribution is now generally admitted to be spurious. The Expositio rectae fidei was assigned by Johann Dräseke to Apollinaris of Laodicea , but it is probably a work of as late as the 6th century. The Cohortatio ad Graecos has been attributed to Apollinaris of Laodicea, Apollinaris of Hierapolis, as well as others. The Epistola ad Zenam et Serenum , an exhortation to Christian living,

16506-593: Was martyred during the persecution of Maximus. The earliest mention of Justin is found in the Oratio ad Graecos by his student Tatian who, after calling him "the most admirable Justin", quotes a saying of his and says that the Cynic Crescens laid snares for him. Irenaeus speaks of Justin's martyrdom and of Tatian as his disciple. Irenaeus quotes Justin twice and shows his influence in other places. Tertullian , in his Adversus Valentinianos , calls Justin

16637-467: Was published by Robert Estienne in 1551. The Dialogue is a later work than the First Apology ; the date of composition of the latter, judging from the fact that it was addressed to Antoninus Pius and his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus , must fall between 147 and 161. In the Dialogue with Trypho , after an introductory section, Justin undertakes to show that Christianity

16768-435: Was renewed. He also fought each night with Apep , a serpentine god representing chaos. The defeat of Apep and the meeting with Osiris ensured the rising of the sun the next morning, an event that represented rebirth and the victory of order over chaos. The procedures for religious rituals were frequently written on papyri , which were used as instructions for those performing the ritual. These ritual texts were kept mainly in

16899-429: Was seen as the son of Ra, who ruled and regulated nature as the pharaoh ruled and regulated society. By the New Kingdom he was also associated with Amun, the supreme force in the cosmos. Upon his death, the king became fully deified. In this state, he was directly identified with Ra, and was also associated with Osiris , god of death and rebirth and the mythological father of Horus. Many mortuary temples were dedicated to

17030-455: Was to emphasize the absolute significance of Christ, so that all that ever existed of virtue and truth may be referred to him. The old philosophers and law-givers had only a part of the Logos , while the whole appears in Christ. While the gentile peoples, seduced by devils, had deserted the true God for idols, the Jews and Samaritans possessed the revelation given through the prophets and awaited

17161-563: Was uncircumcised, and defined himself as a Gentile . His grandfather, Bacchius, had a Greek name, while his father, Priscus, bore a Latin name, which has led to speculations that his ancestors may have settled in Neapolis soon after its establishment or that they were descended from a Roman "diplomatic" community that had been sent there. In the opening of the Dialogue , Justin describes his early education, stating that his initial studies left him unsatisfied due to their failure to provide

#838161