We may discover two great canons in the operations of the Apologists. In the first place, they seek to show that all things prophesied of the Messiah were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth; and, secondly, that everything which befel Jesus was prophesied of the Messiah. These canons need only to be stated to show the sheer impossibility of the enterprise to anyone who attaches meaning to words. But in the early centuries of our era there was little disposition with Jew or Greek to do this where those books were concerned, whose age and beauty gave them a peculiar hold upon the mind. In each case the preconception had grown up, as about the myths of Isis, for example, that such books were in some way sacred and inspired. The theory gave men an external authority, but it presented some difficulties; for, both in Homer and in Genesis as in the Egyptian myths, there were stories repugnant to every idea of the divine nature which a philosophic mind could entertain. They were explained away by the allegoric method. Plutarch shows how the grossest features of the Isis legend have subtle and spiritual meanings and were never meant to be taken literally—that the myths are logoi in fact; and Philo vindicates the Old Testament in the same way.[[51]] The whole procedure was haphazard and unscientific; it closely resembled the principles used by Artemidorus for the interpretation of dreams—a painful analogy. But, in the absence of any kind of historic sense, it was perhaps the only way in which the continuity of religious thought could then be maintained. It is not surprising in view of the prevalence of allegory that the Christians used it—they could hardly do anything else. Thus with the fatal aid of allegory, the double thesis of the Apologists became easier and easier to maintain.
The most accessible illustration of this line of apology is to be found in the second chapter of Matthew. We may set out in parallel columns the events in the life of Jesus and the prophecies which they fulfil.
(a) The Virgin-Birth. _Isaiah_ 7, 14: Behold a virgin
shall conceive.
(b) Bethlehem. _Micah_ 5,2: And thou, Bethlehem,
etc.
(c) The Flight into Egypt. _Hosea_ 11, 1: Out of Egypt
have I called my son.
(d) The Murder of the children. _Jerem._ 31, 15: Rachel weeping.
(e) Nazareth. _Judges_ 13, 5: A Nazarene.
It is hardly unfair to say that the man who cited these passages in these connexions had no idea whatever of their original meaning, even where he quotes them correctly.
Here is a fuller scheme taken from the Apology which Justin addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. (The numbers on the left refer to the chapter in the first Apology.)
32. Jesus Christ foretold by _Gen._ 49, 10 f: (the blessing
Judah). of Moses.
_Numbers_ 24, 17: There shall
dawn a star, etc.
Jesus Christ foretold by _Isaiah_ 11, i: the rod of Jesse,
Isaiah. etc.
33. Jesus Christ to be born _Is._ 7, 14: (the sign to
of a virgin. Ahaz).
34. Jesus Christ to be born at _Micah_ 5, 2: Thou, Bethlehem,
Bethlehem. etc.
35. The triumphal entry into _Zech._ 9, 9: Thy king cometh
Jerusalem. riding on an ass, etc.
The Crucifixion: the Cross. _Is._ 9,6: The government upon
his shoulders.
_Is._ 65, 2: I have stretched out
my hands, etc.
The Crucifixion: the _Is._ 58, 2: They ask me for
mockery. judgment, etc.
The Crucifixion: the nails _Psalm_ 22, 16, 18: They
and the casting of lots. pierced my feet and my
hands; they cast lots upon
my raiment.
38. The Crucifixion: the _Is._ 50, 6-8: I gave my back
scourging. to the lashes and my cheeks
to blows, etc.
The Crucifixion: the _Ps._ 22, 7: they wagged the
mocking. head, saying, etc.
The Crucifixion: the _Ps._ 3, 5: I slept and slumbered
resurrection. and I rose up (_anéstên_)
because the Lord laid hold of
me.
39. The sending of the twelve _Is._ 2, 3 f.: Out of Sion shall
Apostles. go forth the law.
40. The proclamation of the _Ps._ 19, 2-5: Day unto day,
Gospel. etc.
Christ, Pilate, the Jews _Psalms_ 1 and 2: cited _in
and Herod. extenso_.
41. Christ to reign after the 1 _Chron._ 16, 23, 25-31: (a
Crucifixion. psalm). Cf. _Ps._ 96, i, 2,
4-11, with ending: "The
Lord hath reigned from the
tree."
45. The Ascension. _Ps._ 110, 1-3: Sit thou at my
right hand, etc.
47. The desolation of Jerusalem. _Is._ 64, 10-12: Sion has become
desert, etc.
_Is._ 1, 7, and _Jer._ 50, 3:
Their land is desert.
48. The miracles of Christ. _Is._ 35, 5, 6: The lame shall
leap ... the dead shall rise
and walk, etc.
Christ's death. _Is._ 57, 1 f.: Behold, how the
Just Man has perished, etc.
49. The Gentiles to find Christ _Is._ 65, 1-3: I was visible to
but not the Jews. them that asked not for me
... I spread out my hands
to a disobedient people.
50. Christ's humiliation and _Is._ 53, 12: For that they gave
the glorious second his soul to death ... he
advent. shall be exalted.
_Is._ 52, 13-53, 8: ... he was
wounded, etc.
51. His sufferings, origin, _Is._ 53, 8-12.
reign and ascension.
His second coming. "Jeremiah" = _Daniel_ 7, 13, as
it were a son of man cometh
upon the clouds and his
angels with him.
52. The final resurrection. _Ezek._ 37, 7-8: Bone shall be
joined to bone.
_Is._ 45, 23: Every knee shall
bow to the Lord.
_Is._ 66, 24: The worm shall
not sleep nor the fire be
quenched.
Also a composite quotation
with phrases mingled from
Isaiah and Zechariah,
attributed to the latter.
53. More Gentiles than Jews _Is._ 54, 1: Rejoice, O barren,
will believe. etc.
"Isaiah" = _Jerem._ 9, 26:
Israel uncircumcised in
heart.
60. The Cross foretold in the _Num._ 21, 8: If ye look at this
brazen serpent. type(_typô_) I believe ye shall
be saved in it (_en autô_).
61. Baptism. _Is._ 1, 16: Wash you ... I
will whiten as wool.