Editing Justin Martyr (section)

== Composition ==

=== Scriptural sources ===

==== Gospels ====
Justin uses material from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in the composition of the ''First Apology'' and the ''Dialogue'', either directly, as in the case of Matthew,<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 130,163" /> or indirectly through the use of a [[gospel harmony]], which may have been composed by Justin or his school.<ref name="Koester 2000 p. 344" />  However, his use, or even knowledge, of the [[Gospel of John]] is uncertain.  One possible reference to John is a saying that is quoted in the context of a description of Christian baptism (''1 Apol''. 61.4 – "Unless you are reborn, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.").  However, Koester contends that Justin obtained this saying from a baptismal liturgy rather than a written gospel.<ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 360–361">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;360–361; p.&nbsp;360 – "He knew and quoted especially the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; he must have known the Gospel of Mark as well, though there is only one explicit reference to this Gospel (''Dial''. 106.3); he apparently had no knowledge of the Gospel of John." footnote #2: "The only possible reference to the Gospel of John is the quotation of a saying in ''1 Apol''. 61.4.."</ref> Justin's possible knowledge of John's gospel may be suggested by verbal similarities to John 3:4 directly after the discussion about the new birth ("Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter their mother's womb is manifest to all"). Justin also uses language very similar to that of John 1:20 and 1:28. Furthermore, by employing the term "memoirs of the apostles" and distinguishing them from the writings of their "followers", Justin must have been of the belief that at least two gospels were written by actual apostles.

==== Apocalypse ====
Justin does not quote from the [[Book of Revelation]] directly, yet he clearly refers to it, naming [[John of Patmos|John]] as its author (''Dial''. 81.4 "Moreover also among us a man named John, one of the apostles of Christ, prophesied in a revelation made to him that those who have believed on our Christ will spend a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that hereafter the general and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all will likewise take place").  Scholar [[Brooke Foss Westcott]] notes that this reference to the author of the single prophetic book of the New Testament illustrates the distinction Justin made between the role of prophecy and fulfillment quotations from the gospels, as Justin does not mention any of the individual [[canonical gospels]] by name.<ref name="Westcott 1875 p. 120">Westcott (1875) ''A general survey of the canon of the New Testament'', p.&nbsp;120 – "To quote prophecy habitually without mentioning the Prophet's name would be to deprive it of half its value; and if it seem strange that Justin does not quote the Evangelists like Prophets, it is no less worthy of notice that he does quote by name the single prophetic book of the New Testament.&nbsp;... This reference to the Apocalypse appears to illustrate the difference which Justin makes between his quotations from the Prophecies and the Gospels."</ref>
[[File:Justin Martyr.jpg|thumb|16th century engraving of Justin]]

==== Letters ====
The apologetic character of Justin's habit of thought appears again in the Acts of his martyrdom, the genuineness of which is attested by internal evidence.<ref name="Bonwetsch 1914 p. 284">Bonwetsch (1914) ''New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', p.&nbsp;284; Also see, [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/JUSTIN MARTYR/Introductory Note to the Martyrdom of Justin Martyr|Martyrdom of Justin Martyr]] at Wikisource</ref>

=== Testimony sources ===
According to scholar [[Oskar Skarsaune]], Justin relies on two main sources for his proofs from prophecy that probably circulated as collections of scriptural testimonies within his Christian school.  He refers to Justin's primary source for demonstrating scriptural proofs in the ''First Apology'' and parallel passages in the ''Dialogue'' as a "kerygma source".  A second source, which was used only in the ''Dialogue'', may be identical to a lost dialogue attributed to [[Aristo of Pella]] on the divine nature of the [[Messiah#Christianity|Messiah]], the ''[[Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus]]'' (c. 140).  Justin brings in biblical quotes verbatim from these sources, and he often appears to be paraphrasing his sources very closely, even in his interpretive remarks.<ref name="Skarsaune 2007 pp. 380–381">Skarsaune (2007) ''Jewish Believers in Jesus'' pp.&nbsp;380–81</ref>

Justin occasionally uses the Gospel of Matthew directly as a source for Old Testament prophecies to supplement his testimony sources.<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 130,163">{{cite book | last=Skarsaune | first=Oskar | title=The Proof from Prophecy: A Study in Justin Martyr's Proof-text Tradition : Text-type, Provenance, Theological Profile | publisher=E.J. Brill | series=Novum Testamentum. Supplements | year=1987 | isbn=978-90-04-07468-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66SsrINcDoUC | access-date=10 October 2023 | pages=130, 163 | quote=Justin sometimes had direct access to Matthew and quotes OT texts directly from him.&nbsp;... (The direct borrowings are most frequent in the ''Dialogue''; in the ''Apology'', Mic 5:1 in ''1 Apol''. 34:1 may be the only instance.) [130] Diagram of the internal structure of the putative "kerygma source", showing the insertion of scriptural quotation of Mic 5:1 from Mt. 2:6 [163]}}</ref><ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 382–383">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;382–383 – "In the discussion of the prophecy for the place of Jesus' birth (''1 Apology'' 34), Justin only quotes the prophecy of Micah 5:1 and then remarks that Jesus was born in this 'village in the land of Judah which is 35 stades from Jerusalem' (''1 Apol''. 34:2).  No actual narrative material from a gospel is quoted.&nbsp;... However, the quotation of the text of Micah 5:1 is not given in the text of the LXX; rather, Justin follows the form of the text quoted in Matt. 2:6.&nbsp;... The form of the quotation that appears in Matt 2:6 departs considerably from both the LXX and the Hebrew text.  It is, in fact, a combination of Micah 5:1 and 2 Sam 5:2; only the latter speaks of the prince's function as the Shepard of Israel.  The conflated quotation was wholly the work of Matthew.  There can be no question that Justin is quoting this Matthean text."</ref>  However, the fulfillment quotations from these sources most often appear to be harmonizations of the gospels of Matthew and Luke.<ref name="Koester 1990 p. 365">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;365 – "The vast majority of the sayings quoted in Justin's writings are harmonizations of the texts of Matthew and Luke.  These harmonizations are not casual or accidental, but systematic and consistent, (this certainly excludes...careless quotation from memory as an explanation for Justin's harmonizations) and they involve the composition of longer sections of parallel sayings from both gospels."</ref>  Koester suggests that Justin had composed an early harmony along the lines of his pupil [[Tatian]]'s ''[[Diatesseron]]''.<ref name="Koester 2000 p. 344">Koester, (2000) ''Introduction to the New Testament: History and literature of Early Christianity.'' 2nd ed., 1982 1st ed., p.&nbsp;344 – "On the basis of the gospel quotations of the First Apology and the Dialogue with Trypho, one can conclude with great certainty that Justin also had composed a harmony of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (he did not know the Gospel of John), which is lost but was used by his student Tatian for the composition of his famous and influential four-gospel harmony known as the Diatessaron."</ref>  However, the existence of a harmony independent of a collection of sayings for exposition purposes has been disputed by scholar [[Arthur Bellinzoni]].<ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 p. 141">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' p.&nbsp;141 – "It must, however, be emphasized that there is absolutely no evidence that Justin ever composed a complete harmony of the synoptic gospels; his harmonies were of limited scope and were apparently composed for didactic purposes.  Whether the thought of a full gospel harmony ever occurred to Justin can only be conjectured, but he apparently never undertook to compose such a work."</ref><ref name="Koester 1990 p. 370">Koester (1990) ''The Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;370 footnote 2: "Bellinzoni (''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' p.&nbsp;100) collapses stage (1) [a systematic harmonization of the texts of Matthew and Luke] and (2) [the composition of a cluster of sayings that warn against false prophets] of this process. He assumes that the harmonizations were made specifically for the composition of a catechism.  This assumption, however, cannot explain why also the narrative materials quoted by Justin were drawn from a harmonized gospel text."</ref> The question of whether the harmonized gospel materials found in Justin's writings came from a preexisting gospel harmony or were assembled as part of an integral process of creating scriptural [[prooftext]]s is an ongoing subject of scholarly investigation.<ref name="Koester 1990 p. 378">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;378 – "The question is whether Justin composed these harmonizations and inserted additional phrases just for the purpose of his demonstration of scriptural proof or whether he drew on a written gospel text that was already harmonized and expanded.  It seems to me that we are not witnessing the work of an apologist who randomly selects pieces of various gospels and invents additional phrases for the purpose of a tight argument of literal fulfillment of scripture; nor can one solve the complex problems of Justin's quotations of gospel narrative materials by the hypothesis of a ready-made, established text of a harmonized gospel as his source.  Rather, his writings permit insights into a school of scriptural exegesis in which careful comparison of written gospels with the prophecies of scripture endeavored to produce an even more comprehensive new gospel text."</ref>

==== "Kerygma source" ====
The following excerpt from ''1 Apol''. 33:1,4–5 (partial parallel in ''Dial''. 84) on the [[annunciation]] and [[virgin birth of Jesus]] shows how Justin used harmonized gospel verses from Matthew and Luke to provide a scriptural proof of the messiahship of Jesus based on fulfillment of the prophecy of [[Isaiah 7:14]].<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 p. 145">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' p.&nbsp;145 – "''1 Apol''. 33 contains an elaborate explanation of Is 7:14.&nbsp;... One notices that the fulfillment report is stylized so as to match the prophecy perfectly.  That Justin did not entirely formulate it ''ad hoc'' is demonstrated by the close parallel in the ''Proteuangelium Iakobi'' (PJ 11:3), where much of the same combination of Matthean and Lukan elements occurs.  Probably all three elements (Prophecy – Exposition – Fulfillment report) were present in Justin's source.  And – as pointed out by Koester [Koester (1956) p.&nbsp;67] – it seems the same source is employed once more in ''Dial''. 84."</ref>

{{blockquote|And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: 'Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will say in his name, God with us' (Mt 1:23).|''1 Apol''. 33:1<ref name="Koester 1990 p. 379">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;379 – "''1 Apol''. 33 gives as proof concerning Jesus' birth the prophecy of Isa 7:14.  The text of this scriptural passage is presented in a form that is influenced by its quotation in Matt 1:23."</ref><ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 32–34">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;32–34; p.&nbsp;32 – "It is obvious that Justin's quotation of IS 7:14 in ''1 Apol''. 33:1 has Mt 1:23 as its direct or indirect source.  There are indications in the context which indicate that we should reckon with an intermediary source between Mt and Justin.  This intermediary source may account for the deviations from Matthew's text." p.&nbsp;33 – Diagram of Mt 1:23, Is 7:14 LXX, and ''1 Apol''. 33:1  p.&nbsp;34 – "To conclude: Although Is 7:14 has its peculiar problems in Justin,&nbsp;... we have found confirmation for our thesis concerning Justin and his 'testimony sources': Justin claims the text from Mt 1:23 – probably transmitted through an intermediary source – as the true LXX."</ref>}}

{{blockquote|...the power of God, coming down upon [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|the virgin]], overshadowed her and made her while yet a virgin to conceive (cf. Lk 1:35), and the angel of God proclaimed to her and said, 'Behold, you will conceive in the womb from the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and bear a son (Mt 1:20/Lk 1:31) and he will be called Son of the Most High (Lk 1:32). And you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21),' as <U>those who have made memoirs</U> of all things about our savior Jesus Christ taught...|''1 Apol''. 33:4–5<ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 380–81">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;380–81 – "The text of ''1 Apol''. 33:5 is a harmony of two angelic announcements, the one from Matthew in which the angel calls Joseph in a dream, the other from Luke's narrative of the annunciation.  While the passage begins with a sentence from Luke, 'from the Holy Spirit' is interpolated from Matt 1:20.  The naming of Jesus and the reason for this name is given according to Matt 1:21.&nbsp;... But in order to argue for the fulfillment of Isa 7:14 in ''1 Apol''. 33:3–6, the report of the command to name the child 'Jesus' did not need to refer to the Matthean form.&nbsp;... It is evident, therefore, that Justin is quoting from a harmonized gospel text... Justin's gospel text must have continued with the remainder of the Lukan pericope of the annunciation.  In the introduction to the harmonization of Luke 1:31–32 and Matt 1:20–21, Justin had already alluded to the Lukan continuation of the story: ''1 Apol''. 33:4&nbsp;... recalls Luke 1:35 ("The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.")</ref>}}

According to Skarsaune, the harmonized gospel narratives of Matthew and Luke were part of a tradition already circulating within Justin's school that expounded on the life and work of Jesus as the Messiah and the apostolic mission.  Justin then rearranged and expanded these testimonia to create his ''First Apology''.<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 143,425">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;143,425; p.&nbsp;143 – "Taking as a working hypothesis that Justin in ''1 Apol''. 32/35 and ''Dial''. 52–54 is using a source containing OT prophecies, expositions and fulfillment reports, it is easy to recognize the different procedure in the ''Apology'' and the ''Dialogue''.  In the ''Apology'', Justin reproduces the source rather faithfully, only rearranging the material... In the ''Dialogue'' Justin is much more independent in his handling of his (kerygma) source.  He has turned to the primary sources behind the testimony source, that is, he has turned to the LXX and Matthew." p.&nbsp;425 – "The prooftexts themselves were presented in a free, targumizing version of the standard LXX text, closely adapted to Christian exegesis and polemic concerns.&nbsp;... Justin may have become heir to ''Schriftbeweistraktate'' which were part of a school tradition.  These tracts probably also comprised brief fulfillment reports.  We encounter this tradition of texts and exposition in its purest form in ''1 Apol''. 31–53.  Here Justin is still almost entirely dependent on the received texts and the adjacent exegesis.&nbsp;... Justin's main modification is a rearrangement within the series, motivated by Justin's fear that his readers might not recognize some of his prooftexts as real prophecies."</ref><ref name="Skarsaune 2007 pp. 381–85">Skarsaune (2007) ''Jewish Believers in Jesus'' pp.&nbsp;381–85; p.&nbsp;381 – "The reason I have called this hypothetical source the "kerygma source" is twofold.  First, it share some striking parallels with the lost writing ''The Kerygma of Peter'' (ca. 125) of which a few fragments are quoted in Clement of Alexandria.  Second, it seems to have had a creed-like enumeration of Jesus' messianic career, a christological "kerygma", as its basic structure."</ref>  The "kerygma source" of [[prooftext]]s (contained within ''1 Apol''. 31–53) is believed to have had a [[Second Coming|Two Parousias]] Christology, characterized by the belief that Jesus first came in humility, in fulfillment of prophecy, and will [[Son of man#Daniel|return in glory]] as the [[Supersessionism|Messiah to the Gentiles]].<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 154–56">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;154–56; p.&nbsp;156 – "In the ''Apology'', the idea is the following: Since the prophecies covering the first coming of Christ can be shown to have been fulfilled in great detail, we may safely conclude that those prophecies which predict His glorious second coming will also be fulfilled."</ref>  There are close literary parallels between the Christology of Justin's source and the ''[[Apocalypse of Peter]]''.<ref name="Skarsaune 2007 pp. 388–9">Skarsaune (2007) ''Jewish Believers in Jesus'' pp.&nbsp;388–9 – "The Christology is clearly messianic in function: the 'Son of God' concept is demonstrated functionally as the Messiah being enthroned at God's right hand, ruling, and coming to judge the living and the dead, thus acting in a divine role.  On the whole, this Christology is very close to that of Matthew, but also to the Christology of Justin's source in ''1 Apol''. 31–53."</ref>

==== ''Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus'' ====
The following excerpts from the ''Dialogue with Trypho'' of the [[Baptism of Jesus|baptism]] (''Dial''. 88:3,8) and [[Temptation of Christ|temptation]] (''Dial''. 103:5–6) of Jesus, which are believed to have originated from the ''Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus'', illustrate the use of gospel narratives and sayings of Jesus in a testimony source and how Justin has adopted these "memoirs of the apostles" for his own purposes.

{{blockquote|And then, when Jesus had come to the [[Jordan River|river Jordan]] where [[John the Baptist|John]] was [[Baptism|baptizing]], and when Jesus came down into the water, a fire was even kindled in the Jordan, and when He was rising up from the water, the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] fluttered down upon Him in the form of a dove, as the <U>apostles have written</U> about this very [[Christ]] of ours.|''Dial''. 88:3}}

{{blockquote|And when Jesus came to the Jordan, and being supposed to be the son of [[St. Joseph|Joseph]] the carpenter..., the Holy Spirit, and for man's sake, as I said before, fluttered down upon Him, and a voice came at the time out of the heavens – which was spoken also by [[David]], when he said, impersonating Christ, what the [[God the Father|Father]] was going to say to Him – 'You are [[Son of God|My Son]], [[Gospel of Luke#Disputed verses|this day I have begotten you]]'."|''Dial''. 88:8<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 p. 198">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;197–198,391–392; p.&nbsp;197 – "Justin's narrative is a harmonization of the Synoptic accounts.  There are other non-synoptic details in the context, however, which may indicate a non-synoptic source besides the Synoptic Gospels." pp.&nbsp;391–392 – "I have argued above that the narrative of Jesus' baptism in ''Dial''. 88:3 derives from the "recapitulation" source.&nbsp;... Men believed that Jesus was the son of Joseph, but the heavenly voice proclaimed him as God's son.  Perhaps the mention of the fire is related to this idea: It may have been conceived of as a purifying or testing fire.&nbsp;... Jesus at his baptism was tested as God's son by the fire, but not made God's son at his baptism.  This, I gather, is also the idea embodied in Justin's narrative: Jesus was not made or established as God's son in his baptism, but he was proved to be God's son – proved by testing, or by conquering the fire."</ref>}}

{{blockquote|...the [[Devil]] himself,...[was] called [[Serpent (Bible)|serpent]] by [[Moses]], the Devil by [[Job (Biblical figure)|Job]] and [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zachariah]], and was addressed as [[Satan]]as by Jesus.  This indicated that he had a compound name made up of the actions which he performed; for the word "Sata" in the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic language|Syrian]] tongue means "[[Apostate#Christianity|apostate]]", while "[[Serpent (Bible)|nas]]" is the word which means in translation "serpent", thus, from both parts is formed the one word "Sata-nas".  It is narrated in the <U>memoirs of the apostles</U> that as soon as Jesus came up out of the river Jordan and a voice said to him: 'You are My Son, this day I have begotten you', this Devil came and tempted him, even so far as to exclaim: 'Worship me'; but Christ replied: 'Get behind me, Satanas, the Lord your God shall you worship, and Him only shall you serve'.  For, since the Devil had deceived [[Adam]], he fancied that he could in some way harm him also.|''Dial''. 103:5–6<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 222–23,238,383–84,393">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;222–23,238,383–84,393; p.&nbsp;384 – "In the temptation story, Christ as the Son of God, the second Adam, is tested.  The temptation follows immediately after the heavenly voice has proclaimed 'Thou art my son...'.  This is especially clear in ''Dial''. 103:5f.&nbsp;... The special relevance of this passage is that it proves how deeply the recapitulation idea is integrated into Justin's inherited material.  The etymology given for Satanas has a special function: It proves that the 'Satanas' encountered by Jesus in his temptation was the same as the 'serpent' encountered by Adam – Satanas means 'apostate serpent', i.e. the serpent of Gen. 3.  In other words: Jesus met the same adversary as the first Adam." p.&nbsp;393 – "It is interesting to notice that only two Semitic etymologies provided by Justin both refer to the temptation story: 'Satanas' and 'Israel' (''Dial''. 103:5 and ''Dial''. 125:4) – and as we have seen already, they presuppose a harmonistic version of the temptation story which is not created ''ad hoc'' by Justin.  The gist of the whole material is succinctly summarized in ''Dial''. 103:6: As the devil led Adam astray, he thought he could seduce the second Adam also."</ref>}}

The quotations refer to the fulfillment of a prophecy of [[Psalm 2|Psalm 2:7]] found in the [[Western text-type]] of Luke 3:22.<ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 394–395">Koester (1990) ''Ancients Christians Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;394–395 – "In ''Dial''. 88, Justin twice reports the coming of the holy spirit upon Jesus at his baptism.  He gives this report in order to demonstrate the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isa 11:1–3 and Joel 2:28–29 about the coming of the spirit which he had quoted in ''Dial''. 87:2 and 6.&nbsp;... Finally, the heavenly voice is given by Justin in a citation of Ps. 2:7, while Mark and Matthew present a wording of the heavenly voice which is a conflation of Isa 42:1 and 44:2.  Only the Western text of Luke 3:22 presents the heavenly voice in the form that must be presupposed for Justin's source.  Justin cannot have been the author of this form of the heavenly voice; he had no special interest in proving the fulfillment of this scriptural text, although he is quite aware of its appearance in scripture as a word of David, i.e., a psalm that David wrote.  That Justin's source already contained this form of the heavenly voice is confirmed in ''Dial''. 103:6, where he refers to it once more in passing; introducing a remark about Jesus' temptation, he again quotes the exact text of Luke 3:22 D = Ps. 2:7."</ref> Justin's mention of the fire on the Jordan without comment suggests that he was relying on an intermediate source for these gospel quotations,<ref name="Koester 1990 p. 395">Koester (1990) ''Ancients Christians Gospels'' p.&nbsp;395 – "In order to prove the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isa 11:1–3 and Joel 2:28–29, Justin only had to report the coming of the spirit upon Jesus.  But not only does he add the report about the heavenly voice, he also mentions 'that a fire was lit in the Jordan'.  Nothing in the context of Justin's discussion requires a mention of this phenomenon.  It must have been part of the text Justin was quoting."</ref> and his literal interpretation of a pseudo-etymology of the Hebrew word Satan indicates a dependence on a testimony source with a knowledge of Hebrew, which was probably the ''Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus''.<ref name="Rokeah 2002 pp. 20–21">Rokeah (2002) ''Justin Martyr and the Jews'' pp.&nbsp;20–21 – "The accepted view is that Justin did not know Hebrew.  There is clear-cut and overwhelming evidence for Justin's absolute reliance upon the Septuagint.  The explanation for any apparent acquaintance or knowledge of Hebrew in Justin's writings should be sought elsewhere: in his sources.&nbsp;... ''Dial''. 103:5 contains the only two Hebrew–Aramaic etymologies in the entire work: of ''satan'', and of ''yisrael''.  The source of these is apparently the work of Aristo of Pella, ''The Altercation of Jason and Papiscus''."</ref>

The ''Dialogue'' attributed to Aristo of Pella is believed to have furnished Justin with scriptural [[prooftext]]s on the divinity of the Messiah by combining a [[Wisdom]] Christology – Christ as the incarnation of preexistent Wisdom – with a [[Second Adam]] Christology – the first Adam was conquered by Satan, but this [[Fall of Man]] is reversed by Christ as the Second Adam who conquers Satan.  This is implied in the pseudo-etymology in ''Dial''. 103:5–6 linking the name of Satan to the "apostate-serpent".  The Christology of the source is close to that of the ''[[Ascension of Isaiah]]''.<ref name="Skarsaune 2007 pp. 399–400">Skarsaune (2007) ''Jewish Believers in Jesus'' pp.&nbsp;399–400; "In Justin's source, the Messiah is presented as God's preexistent Wisdom who has descended to earth, and ascended again to his heavenly glory.&nbsp;... Here I add another aspect of great significance in Justin's source, namely that Jesus is portrayed as the second and anti-typical Adam.  He reverses the fall of Adam by conquering where Adam was conquered.  He "recapitulates" in his own story the story of Adam, but with the opposite point of departure, the opposite direction and the opposite result.&nbsp;... The very point of the (pseudo-)etymology given for Satanas in this passage is to identify the Tempter addressed by Jesus in Matt 4:11 (conflated with Matt 16:23) with the serpent that tempted the first man.  In this way the parallelism between the first and second Adam is made plain.  Since Justin knew no Hebrew and probably no Aramaic, there is every reason to think he got this midrashic etymology from a source..."</ref>

=== Catechetical sources ===
Justin quotes many sayings of Jesus in ''1 Apol''. 15–17 and smaller sayings clusters in ''Dial''. 17:3–4; 35:3; 51:2–3; and 76:4–7. The sayings are most often harmonizations of Matthew and Luke that appear to be grouped together topically and organized into sayings collections, including material that probably originated from an early Christian [[catechism]].<ref name="Koester 1990 p. 361">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;361 – "The most striking feature is that these sayings exhibit many harmonizations of the text of Matthew and Luke.  However, the simple assumption of a harmonized gospel cannot explain all the peculiarities of the quotations."</ref><ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 pp. 99–100">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' pp.&nbsp;99–100 – "It has already been argued above that the entire section ''Apol''. 15–17 may have been based on a single source different from the sources underlying the rest of Justin's sayings of Jesus, and I have tried to indicate that this section has many features in common with primitive Christian catechisms."</ref>

The following example of an ethical teaching [[Expounding of the Law#Oaths|On Swearing Oaths]] in ''1 Apol''. 16:5 shows a combination of sayings material found in Matthew and the [[Epistle of James]]:

<blockquote>Do not swear at all (Mt 5:34).  Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No (Jas 5:12).  Everything beyond these is from evil (Mt 5:37).</blockquote>

The saying "Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No" from James 5:12 is interpolated into a sayings complex from Matthew 5:34,37. The text appears in a large number of [[Patristic]] quotations and twice in the [[Clementine literature|Clementine Homilies]] (''Hom''. 3:55, 19:2). Thus, it is likely that Justin was quoting this harmonized text from a catechism.<ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 pp. 64–67">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' pp.&nbsp;64–67; p.&nbsp;66 – "the form of the saying in James is a more simple paranetic form than the text of Matthew, where each example is elaborated and where the command is not what one should do but what one should say. It, therefore, appears that the form of the saying in Jas. 5:12 is older than Matthew's version.&nbsp;... This evidence would seem to indicate that ''Apol''. 16:5 was here based on the text of Mt. 5:34,37 that had either been harmonized in part with Jas. 5:12 or with the parenetic tradition that underlies Jas. 5:12.  The evidence of several of the fathers indicates a widespread knowledge of a text similar to ''Apol''. 16:5." (Clem. of Alex. ''Strom''. V 14,99; Clem. of Alex. ''Strom''. VII 11,67; Cyril of Alex. ''De Ador. et Verit. VI; Eusebius ''Dem. Ev.'' III 3,13; Eusebius ''Comm. in Ps. 14'' 4; Epiphanius ''Adv. Her. XIX 6,21; Gregory of Nyssa ''In Cant. of Cant.'' Homily XIII)</ref><ref name="Koester 1990 p. 363">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;363 – "Thus...it is not likely that Justin is quoting from the text of Matthew but from a catechism, whose text was influenced by the formulation preserved in Jas 5:12 but not necessarily dependent upon the Epistle of James."</ref>

The harmonization of Matthew and Luke is evident in the following quotations of Mt 7:22–23 and Lk 13:26–27, which are used by Justin twice, in ''1 Apol''. 16:11 and ''Dial''. 76:5:

<blockquote>Many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not in your name eat and drink and do powerful deeds?' And then I shall say to them, 'go away from me, workers of lawlessness'.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not in your name eat and drink and prophecy and drive out demons?' And I shall say to them, 'go away from me'.</blockquote>

In both cases, Justin is using the same harmonized text of Matthew and Luke, although neither of the quotations includes the entire text of those gospel passages.  The last phrase, "workers of lawlessness", has an exact parallel with [[2 Clement]] 4:5.  This harmonized text also appears in a large number of quotations by the [[Church Fathers]].<ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 356,365–67">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;356,365–67; p.&nbsp;367 – "The method of harmonization includes two different procedures: (1) whenever the texts of Matthew and Luke are closely parallel, either the Matthean or the Lukan phrase or a conflation of both is chosen; (2) whenever the texts of Matthew and Luke differ considerably, as in Matt 7:22 and Luke 13:26, major portions of the two texts are combined; thus, one finds Luke's 'we were eating and drinking' as well as Matthew's 'we prophesied etc.'."</ref><ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 pp. 22–25">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' pp.&nbsp;22–25; pp.&nbsp;24–25 – "These consistent features of harmonization found in ''Apol''. 16:11 and ''Dial''. 76:5 leave little doubt that Justin used as a source for these passages a written harmony of Mt. 7:22f and Lk. 13:26f, and this harmonization of Matthew and Luke is further evident in several of the early fathers quoted in the texts below.&nbsp;... A comparison of this harmonization of Matthew and Luke in the patristic quotations leaves little doubt that Justin used a harmony of Mt. 7:22f and Lk. 13:26f and that this harmony was known to other fathers in substantially the same form as that used by Justin (Origen ''Contra Celsum'' II 49; Origen ''Ev. Jo.'' XXXII 8,11; Pamphilius ''Apol. pro Orig.'' V). Further, the witness of ''2 Clement'' here proves the existence of this harmonization of Matthew and Luke previous to Justin."</ref> ''1 Apol''. 16:11 is part of a larger unit of sayings material in ''1 Apol'' 16:9–13 which combines a warning against being unprepared with a warning against false prophets.  The entire unit is a carefully composed harmony of parallel texts from Matthew and Luke.<ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 pp. 98–99">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' pp.&nbsp;98–99; p.&nbsp;99 – "Therefore we can conclude with certainty that these five verses are based on a source that was a carefully composed harmony of material from Matthew and Luke and that was based on the order of Matthew 7."</ref><ref name="Koester 1990 pp. 367–370">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' pp.&nbsp;367–370; p.&nbsp;369 – "This section of Justin's quotation of Jesus' sayings rests on deliberate and careful composition of the parallel texts of Matthew and Luke, but is also disrupted by interpolations from different contexts." p.&nbsp;370 – "Thus Justin himself did not compose this cluster of sayings for this particular context.  He use an already existing collection."</ref>  This unit is part of a larger collection of sayings found in ''1 Apol''. 15–17 that appear to have originated from a catechism used by Justin's school in Rome, which may have had a wide circulation.  Justin excerpted and rearranged the catechetical sayings material to create ''Apol''. 15–17 and parallel passages in the ''Dialogue''.<ref name="Bellinzoni 1967 p. 100">Bellinzoni (1967) ''Sayings of Jesus in Justin Martyr'' p.&nbsp;100 – "It is, therefore, quite probable from the foregoing discussion that there is underlying ''Apol''. 15–17 a primitive Christian catechism in use in Justin's school in Rome, a catechism that was known in similar form to Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and the author of the Pseudo-Clementine ''Homilies'', a catechism based primarily on the text of the Sermon on the Mount but that harmonized related material from Mark, Luke, and from other parts of Matthew, and a catechism whose tradition was of great influence in later manuscript witnesses of the synoptic gospels."</ref><ref name="Koester 1990 p. 375">Koester (1990) ''Ancient Christian Gospels'' p.&nbsp;375 – "The catechetical character of these clusters of sayings is evident in their usage by Justin&nbsp;... It is difficult to determine in each instance the degree to which Justin has supplemented and rearranged these collections. But it appears that the catechetical collections already existed and that Justin himself did not compose them."</ref>

=== Other sources ===
Justin includes a tract on Greek mythology in ''1 Apol''. 54 and ''Dial''. 69 which asserts that myths about various pagan deities are imitations of the prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament.  There is also a small tract in ''1 Apol''. 59–60 on borrowings of the philosophers from Moses, particularly Plato.  These two tracts may be from the same source, which may have been an early Christian ''Apology''.<ref name="Skarsaune 1987 pp. 52–53,148–150,431">Skarsaune (1987) ''The Proof From Prophecy'' pp.&nbsp;52–53,148–150,431; p.&nbsp;150 – "This tract must have had a somewhat other orientation than the source employed by Justin in ''1 Apol''. 32–35.  It was not concerned with a prophecy–fulfillment scheme, but with correspondence between OT texts and Greek mythology."  p.&nbsp;53 – "It is unlikely that it (the text in ''1 Apol''. 60:9 introduced as a prophecy of Moses) ever occurred in a Bible text...it is more likely that Justin took it from the source which also provided him with the (harmonistic) 'citations' from Plato in A 60.&nbsp;... In this case we have reason to suspect a tractate of some kind, which included Plato quotations as well." p.&nbsp;431 – "It remains to be remarked that Justin also has made other additions from sources containing OT material, but these are strictly speaking not parts of the scriptural proof.  In ''1 Apol''. 54f and ''Dial''. 69f Justin has added material from a source which was occupied with demonic imitations of OT Messianic prophecies, and in ''1 Apol''. 59f he has a little tract on philosophic borrowings from Moses.  One should not exclude the possibility that these two blocks of material derive from the same source, which might well be an earlier Christian ''Apology''."</ref>