First Apology 24 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Rauschen, 48–50

Πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς Ἕλλησι λέγοντες μόνοι μισούμεθα διʼ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντες ὡς ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀναιρούμεθα, ἄλλων ἀλλαχοῦ καὶ δένδρα σεβομένων καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ μῦς καὶ αἰλούρους καὶ κροκοδείλους καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων τὰ πολλά, καὶ οὐ τῶν αὐτῶν ὑπὸ πάντων τιμωμένων ἀλλʼ ἄλλων ἀλλοχόσε, ὥστʼ εἶναι ἀσεβεῖς ἀλλήλοις πάντας διὰ τὸ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ σέβειν. Ὅπερ μόνον ἐγκαλεῖν ἡμῖν ἔχετε, ὅτι μὴ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ὑμῖν σέβομεν θεούς, μηδὲ τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι χοὰς καὶ κνίσας καὶ ἐν ταφαῖς στεφάνους καὶ θυσίας φέρομεν. Ὅτι γὰρ οὖν τὰ αὐτὰ παρʼ οἷς μὲν θεοί, παρʼ οἷς δὲ θηρία, παρʼ οἷς δὲ ἱερεῖα νενομισμένα ἐστίν, ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθε.

English · Claude translation

First, that though we say things similar to the Greeks, we alone are hated because of the name of Christ, and though we do no wrong we are put to death as sinners, while others elsewhere worship trees and rivers and mice and cats and crocodiles and many of the irrational animals; and not the same ones are honored by all, but different ones in different places, so that all are impious toward one another because they do not worship the same things. This is the only thing you can charge us with: that we do not worship the same gods as you, nor bring libations and the smoke of fat and garlands and sacrifices to the dead at their tombs. For you know well that the same things are regarded as gods by some, as wild beasts by others, and as sacrificial victims by others.

About this passage

Source

Rauschen, 48–50 · Gerhard Rauschen, ed., S. Iustini Apologiae duae, Florilegium Patristicum 2 (Bonn: Hanstein, 1911), 8–114 · Greek text: G. Rauschen, S. Iustini Apologiae duae (Florilegium Patristicum 2, 1911), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Rauschen, FlorPatr 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Rauschen (Florilegium Patristicum 2, 1911); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Persecution

Notes

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (wrong accent)): παρʼ οἶς δὲ θηρία → παρʼ οἷς δὲ θηρία.

Cite this passage

Justin, 1 Apol. 24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/24/).

Plain text

Justin, 1 Apol. 24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/24/).