Channels, Fall 2016

Page 6 Little • Emotions and the Divine Nature derived from His good deeds and functions . . . also the appellation “God” is not a name, but an opinion implanted in the nature of men of a thing that can hardly be explained.” 31 And again “For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and if any one dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness.” 32 God is the unbegotten creator and transcends our names and ascriptions for him. We must therefore avoid placing more weight upon his descriptions than they can bear. One can summarize Justin’s apophatic tendencies by recognizing one key insight: the creature must always be careful to not say more than is rightly spoken of the creator. Thus, the language of impassibility comes in the context of a God who is transcendent and cannot be fully described in human terms. 33 However, this transcendence is softened by Justin’s firm belief in God’s self-revelation and activity in the world. 34 The Christian God is a creator who sends his Spirit to inspire the prophets to glorify him and proclaim his son. 35 When Justin ascribes impassibility to God, he is describing a God who ultimately transcends our statements while also acting to reveal himself in the world he created. Justin only directly describes God as impassible once, in The First Apology 25. However, this description provides key information regarding the purpose and content of Justin’s ascription of impassibility to the divine nature. Justin states that the Christians “have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impassible God; 36 of whom we are persuaded that never was he goaded by lust of Antiope, or such other woman, or of Ganymede, nor was rescued by that hundred-handed giant whose aid was obtained through Thetis, nor was anxious on this account that her son Achilles should destroy many of the Greeks because of his concubine Briseis. Those who believe these things we pity, and those who invented them we know to be devils.” This description of God as impassible clearly corresponds to two elements of Justin’s thought, both of which must be considered at length. The first is the transcendent nature of the Christian God versus the anthropomorphic character of the Homeric gods. The second is the righteousness of the Christian God versus the decadence and corruption of the Homeric gods. In this passage, Justin draws a clear contrast between the heathen gods and the “unbegotten God.” His use of unbegotten in this passage fits neatly into his consistent description of God as the transcendent creator. The heathen gods are all too human and fall into wickedness and folly on account of their passions while the “unbegotten” God of the 31 Justin Martyr, The Second Apology , 6. 32 Justin Martyr, The First Apology, 61. 33 Barnard, Justin Martyr, 81. 34 Goodenough, The Theology of Justin Martyr, 138. 35 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 7. 36 Gr. Θεω δε τωο αγννητω και απαθει εαυτους ανεθηκαμεν. All English translation of Justin taken from the translation found in In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume I , edited by Alxeander Roberts and James Donaldson. The Greek is taken from the text presented in Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies, edited by Denis Minns and Paul Parvis.