First Apology 8

Justin Martyr · First Apology · ca. 150–155 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: Christians refuse to lie to save themselves; they expect Christ's judgment, with eternal punishment of body and soul.

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Greek text · Rauschen, 18–20

Λογίσασθε δʼ ὅτι ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ταῦτα ἔφημεν ἐκ τοῦ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν εἶναι ἀρνεῖσθαι ἐξεταζομένους. Ἀλλʼ οὐ βουλόμεθα ζῆν ψευδολογοῦντες· τοῦ γὰρ αἰωνίου καὶ καθαροῦ βίου ἐπιθυμοῦντες τῆς μετὰ θεοῦ τοῦ πάντων πατρὸς καὶ δημιουργοῦ διαγωγῆς ἀντιποιούμεθα, καὶ σπεύδομεν ἐπὶ τὸ ὁμολογεῖν, οἱ πεπεισμένοι καὶ πιστεύοντες τυχεῖν τούτων δύνασθαι τοὺς τὸν θεὸν διʼ ἔργων πείσαντας, ὅτι αὐτῷ εἵποντο καὶ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ διαγωγῆς ἤρων, ἔνθα κακία οὐκ ἀντιτυπεῖ. Ὡς μὲν οὖν διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν, ἅ τε προσδοκῶμεν καὶ μεμαθήκαμεν διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ διδάσκομεν, ταῦτά ἐστι. Πλάτων δʼ ὁμοίως ἔφη Ῥαδάμανθυν καὶ Μίνω κολάσειν τοὺς ἀδίκους παρʼ αὐτοὺς ἐλθόντας· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμά φαμεν γενήσεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κἀν τοῖς αὐτοῖς σώμασι μετὰ τῶν ψυχῶν γινομένων καὶ αἰωνίαν κόλασιν κολασθησομένων, ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ χιλιονταετῆ περίοδον, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἔφη, μόνον. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἄπιστον ἢ ἀδύνατον τοῦτο φήσει τις, πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἥδε ἡ πλάνη ἐστὶν ἀλλʼ οὐ πρὸς ἕτερον, μέχρις οὗ ἔργῳ μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντες ἐλεγχόμεθα.

English · Claude translation

Consider that we have said these things for your sake, since it is in our power to deny when examined. But we do not wish to live by telling lies; for, longing for the eternal and pure life, we strive for the life that is with God, the Father and Maker of all, and we hasten to confess, being persuaded and believing that those who have shown God by their works that they followed him and loved the life with him, where evil does not resist, can obtain these things. This, then, to speak briefly, is what we expect and have learned from Christ and teach. And Plato likewise said that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the wicked who came before them; we say that the same thing will happen, but by Christ, and to the same bodies united with their souls, which will be punished with eternal punishment, and not for a period of a thousand years only, as he said. If anyone says this is incredible or impossible, this error concerns us and no one else, so long as we are not convicted of doing any wrong in deed.

About this passage

Source

Rauschen, 18–20 · 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)

Extrabiblical texts

Plato, Gorg. 523e (Plato (works)) · allusion, medium confidence
Plato, Resp. 615a (Plato (works)) · allusion, medium confidence

Topics

Eschatology, Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

Plato speaks of the judges of the dead (Gorgias 523e–524a) and of a thousand-year cycle (Republic 615a; Phaedrus 249a).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (wrong letter)): μέχρις οἷ ἔργῳ → μέχρις οὗ ἔργῳ.

Cite this passage

Justin, 1 Apol. 8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/8/).

Plain text

Justin, 1 Apol. 8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/8/).

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