Friday, January 27, 2012

A Voice from the Past - Justin Martyr

And to any thoughtful person would anything appear more incredible, than, if we were not in the body, and some were to say that it was possible that from a small drop of human seed bones and sinews and flesh be formed into a shape such as we see? For let this now be said hypothetically: if you yourselves were not such as you now are, and born of such parents and causes, and one were to show you human seed and a picture of a man, and were to say with confidence that from such a substance such a being could be produced, would you believe before you saw the actual production? No one will dare to deny that such a statement would surpass belief. In the same way, then, you are now incredulous because you have never seen a dead man rise again.

Justin Martyr, 100-165 AD, First Apology, Chapter XIX (The Apostolic Fathers  with Justin and Irenaeus, translated by Philip Schaff, Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001, p. 223)

While Justin's science was a little off, does his argument basically make sense? Is it helpful?

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