Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Leslie William Barnard on Jesus being called an "angel" in First Apology 63

In First Apology 63, addressing how God appeared to Moses, Justin wrote that "Now the Word of God is His Son, as we have before said. And He is called Angel and Apostle (Ὁ λόγος δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν) . . . " (ANF 1:184). Commenting on Jesus being called an “angel” by Justin, Leslie William Barnard wrote that

 

The synonym “Angel” is, however, not applied in the New Testament to Christ. Holte, 126–27, following J. Barbel, Christos Angelos (Bonn, 1941), 50–51, is sure that Justin is influenced by Philo in describing the logos-Christ as “Angel.” It is true that Philo frequently gives the logos the epithet “Angel” and interprets all angelic visions in the Old Testament as visitations of the logos. However, in view of the prominence of the angel Christology in early Christian writers (Barbel, Christos Angelos, 18ff., 34ff.), which undoubtedly derives from the Old Testament, it seems unnecessary to postulate Philo as its direct source. In fact Justin bases his view on Ex 3:1, “the angel of the Lord appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush”; cf. Acts 7:30ff., which follows the LXX in stating that the angel appeared at the same time as God’s voice was heard. In Dial. 60 Justin argues with Trypho, who claims that “angel” and “God” are two different persons; according to Justin they are identical, for logos is both God and Angel. It would seem Justin is simply basing his view on Ex 3 (cf. Is 9:6 LXX) interpreted from the point of view of Middle Platonism and the Wisdom literature, viz., that God is utterly transcendent and can come into contact with this world only through the medium of the logos, who is called “angel.” Philo, too, was influenced by Middle Platonism. (St. Justin Martyr: The First and Second Apologies [trans. Leslie William Barnard; New York: Paulist Press, 1997], Logos Edition)