3. All the demands, the fulfilment of which constitutes the virtue and
righteousness of men, are summed up under the title of _the new law_. In
virtue of its eternally valid content this new law is in reality the
oldest; but it is new because Christ and the prophets were preceded by
Moses, who inculcated on the Jews in a transient form that which was
eternally valid. It is also new because, being proclaimed by the Logos
that appeared in Christ, it announced its presence with the utmost
impressiveness and undoubted authority, and contains the promise of
reward in terms guaranteed by the strongest proof--the proof from
prophecy. The old law is consequently a new one because it appears now
for the first time as purely spiritual, perfect, and final. The
commandment of love to one's neighbour also belongs to the law; but it
does not form its essence (still less love to God, the place of which is
taken by faith, obedience, and imitation). The content of all moral
demands is comprehended in the commandment of perfect, active holiness,
which is fulfilled by the complete renunciation of all earthly
blessings, even of life itself. Tatian preached this renunciation in a
specially powerful manner. There is no need to prove that no remains of
Judaeo-Christianity are to be recognised in these ideas about the new
law. It is not Judaeo-Christianity that lies behind the Christianity and
doctrines of the Apologists, but Greek philosophy (Platonic metaphysics,
Logos doctrine of the Stoics, Platonic and Stoic ethics), the
Alexandrine-Jewish apologetics, the maxims of Jesus, and the religious
speech of the Christian Churches. Justin is distinguished from Philo by
the sure conviction of the living power of God, the Creator and Lord of
the world, and the steadfast confidence in the reality of all the ideals
which is derived from the person of Christ. We ought not, however, to
blame the Apologists because to them nearly everything historical was at
bottom only a guarantee of thoughts and hopes. As a matter of fact, the
assurance is not less important than the content. By dint of thinking
one can conceive the highest truth, but one cannot in this way make out
the certainty of its reality. No positive religion can do more for its
followers than faith in the revelation through Christ and the prophets
did for the Apologists. Although it chiefly proved to them the truth of
that which we call natural theology and which was the idealistic
philosophy of the age, so that the Church appears as the great insurance
society for the ideas of Plato and Zeno, we ought not at the same time
to forget that their idea of a divine spirit working upon earth was a
far more lively and worthy one than in the case of the Greek
philosophers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account