First Apology 26
Summary: Simon Magus, Menander, and Marcion, inspired by demons, are honored or tolerated, while true Christians are persecuted.
Greek text · Rauschen, 50–54
Τρίτον δʼ ὅτι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνέλευσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς οὐρανὸν προεβάλλοντο οἱ δαίμονες ἀνθρώπους τινὰς λέγοντας ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι θεούς, οἳ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδιώχθησαν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμῶν κατηξιώθησαν. Σίμωνα μέν τινα Σαμαρέα, τὸν ἀπὸ κώμης λεγομένης Γιττῶν, ὃς ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐνεργούντων δαιμόνων τέχνης δυνάμεις ποιήσας μαγικὰς ἐν τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν βασιλίδι Ῥώμῃ θεὸς ἐνομίσθη καὶ ἀνδριάντι παρʼ ὑμῶν ὡς θεὸς τετίμηται, ὃς ἀνδριὰς ἀνεγήγερται ἐν τῷ Τίβερι ποταμῷ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο γεφυρῶν, ἔχων ἐπιγραφὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ταύτην· SIMONI DEO SANCTO. Καὶ σχεδὸν πάντες μὲν Σαμαρεῖς, ὀλίγοι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις ἔθνεσιν, ὡς τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν ἐκεῖνον ὁμολογοῦντες προσκυνοῦσι· καὶ Ἑλένην τινά, τὴν συμπερινοστήσασαν αὐτῷ κατʼ ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ, πρότερον ἐπὶ τέγους σταθεῖσαν, τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἔννοιαν πρώτην γενομένην λέγουσι. Μένανδρον δέ τινα, καὶ αὐτὸν Σαμαρέα, τὸν ἀπὸ κώμης Καππαρεταίας, γενόμενον μαθητὴν τοῦ Σίμωνος, ἐνεργηθέντα καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμονίων καὶ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ γενόμενον, πολλοὺς ἐξαπατῆσαι διὰ μαγικῆς τέχνης οἴδαμεν, ὃς καὶ τοὺς αὐτῷ ἑπομένους ὡς μηδὲ ἀποθνήσκοιεν ἔπεισε· καὶ νῦν εἰσί τινες ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦτο ὁμολογοῦντες. Μαρκίωνα δέ τινα Ποντικόν, ὃς καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐστὶ διδάσκων τοὺς πειθομένους, ἄλλον τινὰ νομίζειν μείζονα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεόν· ὃς κατὰ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων συλλήψεως πολλοὺς πεποίηκε βλασφημίας λέγειν καὶ ἀρνεῖσθαι τὸν ποιητὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς θεὸν ἄλλον δέ τινα, ὡς ὄντα μείζονα, τὰ μείζονα παρὰ τοῦτον ὁμολογεῖν πεποιηκέναι. Πάντες οἱ ἀπὸ τούτων ὁρμώμενοι, ὡς ἔφημεν, Χριστιανοὶ καλοῦνται, ὃν τρόπον καὶ οἱ οὐ κοινωνοῦντες τῶν αὐτῶν δογμάτων ἐν τοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὸ ἐπικατηγορούμενον ὄνομα τῆς φιλοσοφίας κοινὸν ἔχουσιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ δύσφημα ἐκεῖνα μυθολογούμενα ἔργα πράττουσι, λυχνίας μὲν ἀνατροπὴν καὶ τὰς ἀνέδην μίξεις καὶ ἀνθρωπείων σαρκῶν βοράς, οὐ γινώσκομεν· ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὴ διώκονται μηδὲ φονεύονται ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, κἂν διὰ τὰ δόγματα, ἐπιστάμεθα. Ἔστι δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ σύνταγμα κατὰ πασῶν τῶν γεγενημένων αἱρέσεων συντεταγμένον, ᾧ εἰ βούλεσθε ἐντυχεῖν, δώσομεν.
English · Claude translation
Third, that even after Christ's ascension into heaven the demons put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods, who not only were not persecuted by you, but were even counted worthy of honors. There was a certain Simon, a Samaritan, from the village called Gitta, who in the time of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the demons at work in him, performed magical powers in your royal city of Rome and was thought to be a god, and has been honored by you as a god with a statue, which statue was set up on the river Tiber between the two bridges, bearing this Latin inscription: SIMONI DEO SANCTO, “To Simon the holy god.” And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even among other nations, confess and worship him as the first god; and a certain Helena, who went about with him at that time, who had formerly stood in a brothel, they call the first Thought produced by him. And we know that a certain Menander, also a Samaritan, from the village of Capparetaea, a disciple of Simon, also driven by the demons, came to Antioch and deceived many by magical art, and persuaded his followers that they would never die; and even now there are some from him who confess this. And there is a certain Marcion of Pontus, who is even now still teaching those who believe him to think that there is another god greater than the Creator; who through the aid of the demons has made many in every race of people speak blasphemies and deny God the Maker of this universe, and confess that another, as being greater, has done greater works than he. All who take their start from these, as we said, are called Christians, just as those among the philosophers who do not share the same doctrines have in common the name of philosophy applied to them. Whether they also do those infamous things that are told in fables, the overturning of the lamp, and promiscuous intercourse, and eating human flesh, we do not know; but we know that they are not persecuted or put to death by you, at least for their doctrines. And we have also a treatise composed against all the heresies that have arisen, which we will give you if you wish to read it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “SIMONI DEO SANCTO”: a statue base found on the Tiber island in 1574 reads SEMONI SANCO DEO FIDIO, a dedication to the Sabine god Semo Sancus; Justin probably misread such an inscription.
- Justin's treatise against all heresies (the Syntagma) is lost.
- Marcion (active in Rome ca. 140) taught that the God of the Old Testament, the Creator, was a lesser god than the Father of Jesus.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text (a word lost); restored as ᾧ from the sense; digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (missing elision mark)): τὴν ὑπ αὐτοῦ → τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ; συντεταγμένον, (??) εἰ βούλεσθε → συντεταγμένον, ᾧ εἰ βούλεσθε.
Cite this passage
Justin, 1 Apol. 26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/26/).
Plain text
Justin, 1 Apol. 26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/26/).
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