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ALLEGED QUOTE: Though Justin's words are never quoted directly (because the quote does not exist) he is said
to have denounced the devil for having sent Mithras, a god very similar to Jesus who also preceded Him.
Some of the quotes I have found on various skeptical sites include:
- "Justin Martyr denounces the devil for having sent a God so similar to Jesus—yet preceding him."
- "Later Christians were terribly perturbed by these similarities to Pagan religions- these coincidences so
disturbed Justin Martyr that he accused the devil of sending an imitator of Christ in advance."
Justin's First Apology may be found here. When we look into Chapter 66 (LXVI) We are given Justin's actual
words:
"Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For,
that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being
initiated, you either know or can learn."
This chapter involves the symbolism of the Christian Eucharist. Nowhere does Justin claim Christianity adopted
pagan rites- in fact he points out the fact Mithraism imitates the Christian bread-wine communion with a bread-
water ceremony. The discerning reader will also notice earlier in the chapter (not quoted by skeptics, of course)
Justin describes the symbolism behind the rituals. Justin states the Christian Eucharist is taken only by those
who are already followers but the ritual performed by followers of Mithraism is for initiation purposes. Their
communal meal did not hold the spiritual significance of the Christian Eucharist:
"And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who
believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the
remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined." Chapter 66
As to the accusation that Justin admits such things preceded Christianity, this is easily refuted when we read an
earlier chapter in his apology where he points out the imitations came after Jesus:
But the evil spirits were not satisfied with saying, before Christ's appearance, that those who were said to be
sons of Jupiter were born of him, but after He had appeared. Chapter LVI
ALLEGED QUOTE: 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, the wicked spirits put forward many to be called Sons of God
under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things that were said with
regard to Christ were merely marvellous tales, like the things that were said by the poets. Justin Martyr First
Apology, Chapter 54 (LIV)
Similar to the quote above, this passage never claims what the critics claim it does- that Christianity borrowed
from pagan beliefs. As we state in the beginning of this page, the Messianic prophecies precede most of the
pagan religions in question. Concepts such as a virgin birth, a resurrection, and the atonement of sin do not
originate in first century A.D. from the imaginations of Christians. Such things were foretold up to 1,400 years
before the birth of Christ. Justin attests to this fact when he points out the existence of the Messianic prophecies
prior to the pagan beliefs in question.
CONCLUSION: The accusation of Justin Martyr lamenting the existence of similar pagan figures who preceded
Christ is utterly false. Skeptics have twisted his words to fit their purpose in an attempt to prove Christ as being
a pagan copycat.
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