97 



JusTiN Martyr. Irenæus. 



up by liim, and through his death Wherefore, being 



made his disciples, let us learn to live a Christian life." 

 {Epist. ad Magnes, sect. 8, 9, 10.) And yet my friend 

 claims his authority in favor of a transfer of the Sabbath ! 

 (p. 52.) 



JusTiN (a. d. 140), when reproached by the Jew Trypho 

 for ^^ observing no Sabbath/' so far from repelling the charge, 

 by alleging a change of the day, distinctly admits its truth. 

 ^' Do you not see/' says he, ^' that the elements are never idle, 

 and keep no Sabbath ? Continue as created ; for, if there was 

 no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of the observance 

 of the Sabbath before Moses, neither now is there need of them 

 after Jesus Christ, the Son of God.'' (^Dialog, cum Try- 

 phone, P. i.) And yet my friend claims his authority ! (p. 52.) 



Irenæus (a. d. 170), in a dissertation on " Circumcision 

 and the Sabbath/' contends that the latter, like the former, 

 ^' was given as ^ a sign :' — but there can be no ^ sign,' " says 

 he, "without a thing signified, nor without an application:" 

 and he goes on to remark that, as " the Sabbath required a 

 constant dedication of the whole day to God," so we should be 

 " consecrated, and steadfastly devoted to our faith during our 

 whole time, abstaining from all avaricious cares, not seeking, 

 nor laying up treasures on earth. And so shall be manifested 

 the divine repose which they enjoy who partake of the com- 

 munion of God. And as man was never justified by these 

 ceremonies, it is shown that Abraham himself, without circum- 

 cision, and without an observance of the Sabbath, ' believed in 

 God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness ; and he 



l^ovrci, aWa xetra xygjax»» (^««i» ^«vTEj : literally/, *' no longer sabbatizing, 

 but living according to the Lord's life ;" — (which certainly was not a 

 *' sabbatizing" life.) Nor is there extant any version that will justify 

 the other reading. Even had the noun ^««v ("life") been wanting, 

 the context would clearly render the word 'w^e^av (" day") altogether 

 inapplicable. The antithesis is grammatically in the verb, and not in 

 any noun : it is in the doincf, and it could not be in the day. 



9 



