The Ancient Witnesses

124 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

Trypho: Trypho is my name. I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, and having escaped from the recent war, I am spending my time in Greece, mainly at Corinth. Justin: Why look to philosophy? As a Jew, you have your own lawgiver and prophets. Trypho: Why not consider philosophy? Don’t the philosophers turn every discussion to God? And, indeed, isn’t the duty of philosophy to investigate God? Justin: I agree, but few philosophers know if there is one god or many, or whether they care for humanity or not. Most of them claim that if God cares for the universe and its creatures, still he cares nothing for you and I—if he did we would have no need to pray. Those who believe such things have no fear of God, but say and do whatever they want— fearing no punishment and expecting no benefit from God. Others, who believe the soul to be immortal and immaterial, see it as unaffected by the evil they do in the flesh, and suppose that it needs nothing from God. Trypho: Tell me, then, what is your belief and how do you conceive of God? Justin answered Trypho’s question by defining philosophy as one truth , which had been corrupted when it was divided into many schools of thought. Next, he shared how he himself had become a Christian through a dialogue with a certain old man. Trypho responded by claiming his own people’s privileged status as Jews. “ Who really are God’s chosen people? replied Justin, for w e Christians too are chosen people, and the Church is the nation promised to Abraham by God, when he told him that