When Christianity was still young it found itself under frequent ridicule from pagan philosophers, who derided the newness of Christianity in comparison to other, more established religions. As novelty in religion was greatly looked down upon in the ancient world, the Church father Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 CE) set out to prove to his pagan critics that Christianity was not so novel after all, and that many of its core stories and theologies could find similitude among existing Roman and Greek gods and myths. In other words, Justin wanted to demonstrate to them that ideas of Christianity were in no way more ridiculous or strange than their own long-accepted notions. (Ironically, at about the same time Jews also began pointing out pagan resemblances of the Christian ideas to their Christian interlocutors. Even more ironically, modern Christians often go to great length to deny or discount the very same similarities that were raised by Justin long ago in defense of Christianity during the time when Christianity was beginning to gain a tenuous foothold in the pagan Roman empire.)
With dignity of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world at stake, Justin Martyr penned his lengthy First Apology addressed to his pagan critics, three excerpts of which I am presenting below:
Pagan analogies to the history of Christ
And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribed to Jupiter: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; Æsculapius, who, though he was a great physician, was struck by a thunderbolt, and so ascended to heaven; and Bacchus too, after he had been torn limb from limb; and Hercules, when he had committed himself to the flames to escape his toils; and the sons of Leda, and Dioscuri; and Perseus, son of Danae; and Bellerophon, who, though sprung from mortals, rose to heaven on the horse Pegasus. For what shall I say of Ariadne, and those who, like her, have been declared to be set among the stars? And what of the emperors who die among yourselves, whom you deem worthy of deification, and in whose behalf you produce some one who swears he has seen the burning Cæsar rise to heaven from the funeral pyre? And what kind of deeds are recorded of each of these reputed sons of Jupiter, it is needless to tell to those who already know. This only shall be said, that they are written for the advantage and encouragement of youthful scholars; for all reckon it an honourable thing to imitate the gods. But far be such a thought concerning the gods from every well-conditioned soul, as to believe that Jupiter himself, the governor and creator of all things, was both a parricide and the son of a parricide, and that being overcome by the love of base and shameful pleasures, he came in to Ganymede and those many women whom he had violated and that his sons did like actions. But, as we said above, wicked devils perpetrated these things. [DM: see the third excerpt for more on this.] And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in holiness and virtue; and we believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire.
Analogies to the sonship of Christ
Moreover, the Son of God called Jesus, even if only a man by ordinary generation, yet, on account of His wisdom, is worthy to be called the Son of God; for all writers call God the Father of men and gods. And if we assert that the Word of God was born of God in a peculiar manner, different from ordinary generation, let this, as said above, be no extraordinary thing to you, who say that Mercury is the angelic word of God. But if any one objects that He was crucified, in this also He is on a par with those reputed sons of Jupiter of yours, who suffered as we have now enumerated. For their sufferings at death are recorded to have been not all alike, but diverse; so that not even by the peculiarity of His sufferings does He seem to be inferior to them; but, on the contrary, as we promised in the preceding part of this discourse, we will now prove Him superior— or rather have already proved Him to be so— for the superior is revealed by His actions. And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus.And in that we say that He made whole the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, we seem to say what is very similar to the deeds said to have been done by Æsculapius.
Justin Martyr not only accepted the similarities between Christianity and pagan myths that preceded it, but believed that devils in advance created the pagan myths purposely similar to Jesus’ story in the New Testament in order to confuse people when Christ finally comes. According to Justin, it’s was not a coincidence at all!
Justin’s rationale, one he frequently employed, for the apparent similarities between pagan myth and Christianity (an excuse sometimes still found even among modern Christians) is that the devils foreknew(!) and purposely set out to imitate the birth, life, deeds and rising of Christ in order to later subject Christianity to derision of the unbelievers. As Justin writes:
For having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come, and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, they put forward many to be called sons of Jupiter, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things which were said with regard to Christ were mere marvelous tales, like the things which were said by the poets. And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations where they [the demons] heard the prophets foretelling that Christ would specially be believed in; but that in hearing what was said by the prophets they did not accurately understand it, but imitated what was said of our Christ, like men who are in error, we will make plain.
Full text of Justin Martyr’s First Apology can be found here.
Daily Minyan 
Leave a comment