; and thirdly, the Holy Spirit." In both cases he refers to the
same attributes of the Son as the teacher of Christian truth, and of the
Holy Ghost, as the Prophetic Spirit. His language throughout the two
passages is remarkably similar, and in the expressions on the true
meaning of which we have already dwelt, it is most strikingly identical;
but by omitting all allusion to the angels after the Son, his own words
proving that the introduction of them could have no place there, (for he
specifies that the third in order was the Holy Spirit,) Justin has left
us a comment on the passage under consideration conclusive as to the
object of religious worship in his creed. The whole passage is well
worth the attention of the reader. The following extracts are the only
parts necessary for our present purpose:--

"Who of sound mind will not confess that we are not Atheists,
reverencing as we do the Maker of the Universe.... and Him, who taught
us these things, and who was born for this purpose, Jesus Christ,
crucified under Pontius Pilate.... instructed, as we are, that He is the
Son of the True God, and holding Him in the second place; and the
Prophetic Spirit in the third order, we with reason honour." [Sect.
xiii. p. 50.] {111}

The impiety apparently inseparable from Bellarmin's interpretation has
induced many, even among Roman Catholic writers, to discard that
acceptation altogether, and to substitute others, which, though
involving no grammatical inaccuracy, are still not free from
difficulty.[37] After weighing the passage with all the means in my
power, and after testing the various interpretations offered by writers,
whether of the Church of Rome or not, by the sentiments of Justin
himself, and others of the same early age, I am fully persuaded that the
following is the only true rendering of Justin's words:

"Honouring in reason and truth, we reverence and worship HIM, the Father
of Righteousness, and the Son (who proceeded from Him, and instructed in
these things both ourselves and the host of the other good angels
following Him and being made like unto Him), and the Prophetic Spirit."

[Footnote 37: Le Nourry (Apparatus ad Bibliothecam Maximam
Veterum Patrum. Paris, 1697. vol. ii. p. 305), himself a
Benedictine, rejects Bellarmin's and his brother Benedictine
Maran's interpretation, and conceives Justin to mean, that the
Son of God not only taught us those truths to which he was
referring,