SECTION XII.
THE PRINCIPAL WITNESS ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE LOGOS.
We have now to compare Justin's doctrine of the Logos with that of the
Fourth Gospel.
The doctrine or dogma of the Logos is declared in the Fourth Gospel in a short paragraph of fourteen verses, a part of which is occupied with the mission of the Baptist.
The doctrine, as I have said before, is rather oracular enunciation than doctrine; i.e. it is not doctrine elaborately drawn out and explained and guarded, but simply laid down as by the authority of Almighty God.
It is contained in four or five direct statements:—
"In the beginning was the Logos."
In the beginning—that is, before all created things—when there was no finite existence by which time could be measured; in that fathomless abyss of duration when there was God only:—
"The Logos was with God."
Though numerically distinct from Him, [73:1] He was so "by" or "with"
Him as to be His fellow:—
"The Logos was God."
That is, though numerically distinct, He partook of the same Divine
Nature:
"All Things were made by Him."
Because, partaking fully of the nature, He partook fully of the power of
God, and so of His creating power.
"That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world."
"The Logos was made flesh."
He was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
The first enunciation, then, of St. John is that—
"IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD."
In Justin we read:—
"His Son, Who alone is properly called Son, the Word, Who also was with Him, and was begotten before the works." (Apol. ii. ch. vi.)
Again:—
"When you [Justin] say that this Christ existed as God before the ages." (Dial. ch. xlviii.)
Again:—
"God begat before all creatures a Beginning, [74:1] [who was] a certain rational Power from Himself, Who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos." (Dial. ch. lxi.)
Now it is to be here remarked, that though the Logos is continually declared to be "begotten of," "derived from," "an offspring of" the Father, yet in no case is He declared to be "created" or "made," anticipating the declaration which we confess in our Creed, "The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten."
St. John proceeds:—
"THE WORD WAS WITH GOD."
In Justin we read:—
"This Offspring, which was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the creatures, and the Father communed with Him." (Dial. ch. lxii.)
Again, a little before, in the same chapter:—
"From which we can indisputably learn that God conversed with some
One who was numerically distinct from Himself."
Again:—
"The Word, Who also was with Him." (Apol. ii. ch. vi.)
Again, Trypho says:—
"You maintain Him to be pre-existent God." (Ch. lxxxvii.)
Again:—
"I asserted that this Power was begotten from the Father, by His Power and Will, but not by abscission, as if the essence of the Father were divided; as all other things partitioned and divided are not the same after as before they were divided; and for the sake of example I took the case of fires kindled from a fire, which we see to be distinct from it," &c. (Dial. cxxviii.)
"THE WORD WAS GOD."
Justin writes:—
"The Word of Wisdom, Who is Himself this God begotten of the Father of all things" (Dial. ch. lxi.) (See previous page.)
Again:—
"They who affirm that the Son is the Father are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the Universe has a Son; Who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God." (Apol. I. ch. lxiii.)
Again:—
"It must be admitted absolutely that some other One is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides Him Who is considered Maker of all things." (Dial. ch. lvi.)
But it is useless to multiply quotations, seeing that all those in pages 69-71 are the echoes of this declaration of the Fourth Evangelist.
St. John writes:—
"ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM."
And Justin writes:—
"Knowing that God conceived and made the world by the Word." (Apol.
I. ch. lxiv.)
Again:—
"When at first He created and arranged all things by Him." (Apol.
II. ch. vi.)
Again St. John writes:—
"THAT (i.e. THE WORD) WAS THE TRUE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN
THAT COMETH INTO THE WORLD."
I have given above (p. 51) sufficient illustrations from Justin of this truth. I again draw attention to:—
"He is the Word of Whom every race of men were partakers." (Apol. I.
ch. xlvi.)
Again:—
"He was and is the Word Who is in every man." (Apol. II. ch. x.) "For whatever either lawgivers or philosophers uttered well, they elaborated by finding and contemplating some part of the Word. But since they did not know the whole of the Word which is Christ, they often contradicted themselves." [77:1] (Apol. II. ch. x.)
Again:—
"These men who believe in Him, in whom [Greek: en hois] abideth the seed of God, the Word." (Apol. I. ch. xxxii.)
Again:—
"I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic Word." [77:2] (Apol. II. ch. xiii.)
Lastly, St. John writes:—
"THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH."
And Justin writes:—
"The Logos Himself, Who took shape and became man and was called
Jesus Christ." (Apol. II. ch. v.)
Again:—
"The Word, Who is also the Son; and of Him we will in what follows relate how He took flesh, and became Man." (Apol. II. ch. xxxii.)
"Jesus Christ is the only proper Son Who has been begotten by God, being His Word, and First-begotten, and Power, and becoming man according to His Will He taught us these things," &c. (Apol. I. ch. xxiii.)
Again:—
"In order that you may recognize Him as God coming forth from above, and Man living among men." (Dial. lxiv.)
Again:—
"He was the Only-begotten of the Father of all things, being begotten in a peculiar manner Word and Power by Him, and having afterwards become Man through the Virgin." (Dial. ch. cv.)
After considering the above extracts, the reader will be able to judge of the truth of some assertions of the author of "Supernatural Religion," as, for instance:—
"We are, in fact, constantly directed by the remarks of Justin to other sources of the Logos doctrine, and never to the Fourth Gospel, with which his tone and terminology in no way agree." (Vol. ii. p. 293)
Again:—
"We must see that Justin's terminology, as well as his views of the Word become Man, is thoroughly different from that Gospel." (Vol. ii. p. 296)
Also:—
"It must be apparent to every one who seriously examines the subject, that Justin's terminology is thoroughly different from, and in spirit opposed to, that of the Fourth Gospel, and in fact that the peculiarities of the Gospel are not found in Justin's writings at all." (!!) (P. 297.) [78:1]
On the contrary, we assert that every Divine Truth respecting the Logos, which appears in the germ in St. John, is expanded in Justin. St. John's short and pithy sentences are the text, and Justin's remarks are the exposition of that text, and of nothing less or more.
So far from Justin's doctrine being contrary to the spirit of St. John's, Justin, whilst deviating somewhat from the strict letter, seizes and reproduces the very spirit. I will give in the next section two or three remarkable instances of this; which instances, strange to say, the author of "Supernatural Religion" quotes for the purpose of showing the absolute divergence and opposition between the two writers.