II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII.
it is obvious that they form a gradational series from orthodox
Judaism, on the extreme left, to Paganism, whether philosophic or
popular, on the extreme right; and it will further be observed that,
while Justin's conception of Christianity is very broad, he rigorously
excludes two classes of persons who, in his time, called themselves
Christians; namely, those who insist on circumcision and other
observances of the Law on the part of Gentile converts; that is to
say, the strict Judaeo-Christians (II.); and, on the other hand, those
who assert the lawfulness of eating meat offered to idols--whether
they are Gnostic or not (VII.). These last I have called "idolothytic"
Christians, because I cannot devise a better name, not because it is
strictly defensible etymologically.
At the present moment, I do not suppose there is an English missionary
in any heathen land who would trouble himself whether the materials of
his dinner had been previously offered to idols or not. On the other
hand, I suppose there is no Protestant sect within the pale of
orthodoxy, to say nothing of the Roman and Greek Churches, which would
hesitate to declare the practice of circumcision and the observance of
the Jewish Sabbath and dietary rules, shockingly heretical.
Modern Christianity has, in fact, not only shifted far to the right of
Justin's position, but it is of much narrower compass.
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