That  Justin  understood  the  distinction  in  the  con-
ception of  religion  which  was  introduced  by  the  pres-
ence of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  among  men,  we
have  no  reason  to  think.  He  felt  the  influence  of
it  as  all  men  feel  it,  but  his  mind  still  ran  in  the
old  grooves  through  which  untold  generations  had
1  Dial.  Try.,  c.  u.
no  SAINT  PAUL  AND  THE  CHAP.  n.
been  accustomed  to  pour  their  thoughts.  All  the
evidence  goes  to  sustain  this  view,  and  even  about
the  old  law  he  seems  to  have  had  ideas  which
are  singularly  at  variance  with  those  of  St.  Paul.
Christians  could  and  would  observe  the  law,  did  they
not  know  that  it  had  been  inflicted  upon  the  Jews  as
a  punishment  for  their  transgressions.1  There  was  no
inherent  difficulty,  or  at  least  no  insuperable  obstacle,
to  so  doing.  As  contrasted  with  the  old  law,  how-
ever, Christianity  is  superior  in  this  respect  chiefly—
that  is,  that  it  is  much  simpler  than  the  old,  and
limits  itself  to  such  essentials  as  render  it  possible
for  every  man  to  keep  it.3  This  conception  of  the
Gospel  was  undoubtedly  strengthened  by  the
polemical  intention  already  referred  to — that  is,  the
motive  which  influenced  most  Christian  writers  in
their  replies  to  heathen  attacks.  The  criticism
which  Celsus  makes,  that  Christianity  was  a  novelty,
was  doubtless  not  of  his  own  creation,  but  part  of
the  general  attack  of  the  dominant  heathenism.
