Sophia Scriptura

Dialogue with Trypho 93.1

Justin Martyr · Dialogue with Trypho · ca. 155–160 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: All peoples know naturally that adultery, fornication, and murder are wrong.

Greek text · Archambault 2:94–96

Τὰ γὰρ ἀεὶ καὶ διʼ ὅλου δίκαια καὶ πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην παρέχει ἐν παντὶ γένει ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἔστι πᾶν γένος γνωρίζον ὅτι μοιχεία κακὸν καὶ πορνεία καὶ ἀνδροφονία καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα. Κἂν πάντες πράττωσιν αὐτά, ἀλλʼ οὖν γε τοῦ ἐπίστασθαι ἀδικοῦντες, ὅταν πράττωσι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἀπηλλαγμένοι εἰσί, πλὴν ὅσοι ὑπὸ ἀκαθάρτου πνεύματος ἐμπεφορημένοι καὶ ἀνατροφῆς καὶ ἐθῶν φαύλων καὶ νόμων πονηρῶν διαφθαρέντες τὰς φυσικὰς ἐννοίας ἀπώλεσαν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔσβεσαν ἢ ἐπεσχημένας ἔχουσιν.

English · Claude translation

“For he sets forth what is always and universally just, and all righteousness, in every race of men; and every race knows that adultery and fornication and murder and all such things are evil. And even if all do them, still they are not free from knowing that they do wrong when they do them, except those who, filled with an unclean spirit and corrupted by upbringing and evil customs and wicked laws, have lost their natural notions, or rather have quenched them or keep them suppressed.

About this passage

Source
Archambault 2:94–96 · Georges Archambault, ed., Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon, 2 vols., Textes et documents pour l'étude historique du christianisme 8, 11 (Paris: Picard, 1909) · Greek text: G. Archambault, Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon (Paris, 1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • An early appeal to natural moral knowledge (compare Rom 2:14–15).

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 93.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/93/1/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 93.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/93/1/).

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