Justin
Martyr’s "before all creatures." Lightfoot believes his interpretation gains support from Justin’s Dialogue
with Trypho, where Justin, speaking of the Logos, states, "We know him
to be the first-begotten of God, and to be before all creatures."
(ANF 1, chap. 100, p 249) But the truth is Justin
is not in harmony with Lightfoot at all, for Justin clearly understood the Son
to have had a created beginning. He confesses: "He is the Son of God, and
since we call Him the Son, we have understood that He proceeded before all
creatures from the Father by His power and will." (Ibid., chap. 62, p.
228)
Earlier
in his Dialogue Justin stated concerning the Logos: "But this
Offspring which was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father
before all the creatures, and the Father communed with Him; even as the
Scripture by Solomon [Pr 8:22-31; see below] has made clear, that He whom
Solomon calls Wisdom, was begotten as a Beginning before all His creatures
and as Offspring by God."55
With reference to these statements, Willis Shotwell observes:
"The language here is such that it cannot be argued that Justin considered
the Logos to be eternal. The most that can be said about the Logos is that he
was created before anything else." (Willis A. Shotwell, The Biblical
Exegesis of Justin Martyr [London: S.P.C.K, 1965], 105) (Gregory Stafford, Jehovah's Witnesses Defended: An Answer to
Scholars and Critics [electronic 2d ed.; Murrieta, Calif.: 2000, 2012], 215)