esult of salvation, i.e., immortality, was involved in the
incarnation of the Logos, in so far as that act brought about a real
secret transformation of the whole mortal nature of man. With Justin,
indeed, as with the other Apologists, the "salvation" ([Greek: soteria])
consists essentially in the apportioning of eternal life to the world,
which has been created mortal and in consequence of sin has fallen a
prey to the natural destiny of "death;" and Christ is regarded as the
bestower of incorruptibility who thus brings the creation to its goal;
but as a rule Justin does not go beyond this thought. Yet we certainly
find hints pointing to the notion of a physical and magical redemption
accomplished at the moment of the incarnation. See particularly the
fragment in Irenaeus (already quoted on page 220), which may be thus
interpreted, and Apol. I. 66. This conception, in its most complete
shape, would have to be attributed to Justin if the fragment V. (Otto,
Corp. Apol. III. p. 256) were genuine.[457] But the precise form of the
presentation makes this very improbable. The question as to how, i.e.,
in what conceivable way, immortality can be imparted to the mortal
nature as yet received little attention from Justin and the Apologists:
it is the necessary result of knowledge and virtue. Their great object
was to assure the belief in immortality. "Religion and morality depend
on the belief in immortality or the resurrection from the dead. The fact
that the Christian religion, as faith in the incarnate Son of God the
creator, leads to the assurance that the maker of all things will reward
piety and righteousness with the bestowal of eternal and immortal life,
is the essential advantage possessed by the Christian religion over all
others. The righteousness of the heathen was imperfect in spite of all
their knowledge of good and evil, because they lacked the certain
knowledge that the creator makes the just immortal and will consign the
unjust to eternal torment." The philosophical doctrines of God, virtue,
and immortality became through the Apologists the certain content of a
world-wide religion, which is Christian because Christ guarantees its
certainty. They made Christianity a deistical religion for the whole
world without abandoning in word at least the old "teachings and
knowledge" ([Greek: didagmata kai mathemata]) of the Christians. They
thus marked out the task of "dogmatic" and, so to speak, wrote the
prolegomena for ev