Dialogue with Trypho

MOSES: the blessed and faithful servant of God, states that He who appeared to Abraham under the oak in Mamre is God, sent with the two angels to judge Sodom by Another who remains always in the supercelestial places, invisible to all people, interacting personally with none, whom we believe to be Maker and Father of all things. For he says: 'God appeared to him under the oak in Mamre, as he sat at his tent door at noon. And lifting up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men stood before him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and he bowed himself toward the ground, and said;' (and so on;) 'Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the adjacent country, and beheld, and, lo, a flame went up from the earth, like the smoke of a furnace.' And when I had finished quoting these words, I asked them if they had understood them.

AND THEY SAID THEY UNDERSTOOD THEM: but that the passages presented provided no proof that there is any other God or Lord, or that the Holy Spirit says so, besides the Maker of all things.

THEN I REPLIED: "I will try to persuade you, since you understand the Scriptures, about the truth of what I say: there is, and it is said there is, another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things. He is also called an Angel, because He announces to people whatever the Maker of all things—above whom there is no other God—wants to communicate to them." And quoting the previous passage again, I asked Trypho, "Do you believe that God appeared to Abraham under the oak in Mamre, as the Scripture states?"

HE SAID: "Truly."

"Was He one of those three," I asked, "whom Abraham saw and whom the Holy Spirit of prophecy describes as men?"

HE SAID: "No; but God appeared to him before the vision of the three. Then those three whom the Scripture calls men were angels; two of them were sent to destroy Sodom, and one to announce the joyful news to Sarah that she would bear a son. Having fulfilled his mission, he went away."

"How then," I asked, "does the one of the three who was in the tent, and who said, 'I shall return to you later, and Sarah shall have a son,' seem to have returned when Sarah had a son, and to be identified as God by the prophetic word? But so you can clearly understand what I mean, listen to the words Moses used; they are these: 'And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian slave woman, whom she bore to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac, and said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not share the inheritance with my son Isaac.' And the matter seemed very upsetting to Abraham because of his son.

BUT GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM: 'Let it not be upsetting to you because of the boy and the slave woman. Listen to everything Sarah tells you, for through Isaac shall your descendants be named.' Have you understood, then, that He who said under the tree that He would return, since He knew it would be necessary to advise Abraham to do what Sarah wished, came back as written; and is God, as the words declare, when they say: 'God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous to you because of the boy and the slave woman?'" I inquired.

And Trypho said, "Certainly; but you have not proven from this that there is another God besides Him who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets. You have shown, however, that we were wrong in believing that the three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels."

I REPLIED AGAIN: "If I could not have proven to you from the Scriptures that one of those three is God, and is called Angel because, as I already stated, He delivers messages to those whom God, the Maker of all things, wishes [messages to be delivered], then regarding Him who appeared to Abraham on earth in human form, just like the two angels who came with Him, and who was God even before the creation of the world, it would be reasonable for you to hold the same belief as is held by the entirety of your nation."

"Certainly," he said, "up to this moment, this has been our belief."

THEN I REPLIED: "By returning to the Scriptures, I will try to convince you that He who is said to have appeared to Abraham, and to Jacob, and to Moses, and who is called God, is distinct from Him who created all things—numerically, I mean, not distinct in will. For I assert that He has never done anything that He who made the world—above whom there is no other God—has not wanted Him to do and to be involved with."

AND TRYPHO SAID: "Prove now that this is the case so that we also may agree with you. For we do not understand you to claim that He has done or said anything against the will of the Creator of all things."

THEN I SAID: "The Scripture I just quoted will make this clear to you. It goes like this: 'The sun had risen on the earth, and Lot entered Zoar, and the Lord rained sulfur and fire on Sodom from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding area.'"

THEN THE FOURTH OF THOSE WHO HAD STAYED WITH TRYPHO SAID: "It must therefore be said that one of the two angels who went to Sodom, and is called Lord by Moses in the Scripture, is different from Him who is also God and appeared to Abraham."

"It is not solely on this basis," I said, "that we must fully accept that the Holy Spirit refers to another as Lord besides the One regarded as the Maker of all things; not only based on what Moses said, but also on what David said. For it is written by him: ‘The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool,’ as I have already mentioned. And again, in other words: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of justice is the scepter of Your kingdom: You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness: therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.’ If, therefore, you claim that the Holy Spirit calls another God and Lord, besides the Father of all things and His Christ, answer me; for I am prepared to demonstrate to you from the Scriptures themselves, that He whom the Scripture calls Lord is not one of the two angels that went to Sodom, but the One who was with them and is called God, who appeared to Abraham."

AND TRYPHO SAID: “Prove this; for, as you see, the day is advancing, and we are not ready for such challenging responses; since we have never heard anyone investigating, searching into, or proving these matters; nor would we have tolerated your conversation if you had not referred everything to the Scriptures: for you are very enthusiastic about providing evidence from them; and you believe there is no God above the Maker of all things.”

THEN I REPLIED: "You are aware, then, that the Scripture says, ‘And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I truly conceive? For I am old. Is anything impossible with God? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.’ And shortly after: ‘The men rose from there, looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham went with them to see them off. And the Lord said, I will not hide from Abraham, my servant, what I am doing.’ And again, soon after, it says: ‘The Lord said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sins are very grievous. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come to me; and if not, I will know. The men turned away from there and went to Sodom. But Abraham stood before the Lord; and Abraham came forward and said, Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?’"

Having said this, I thought it unnecessary to repeat all the same words again, having already written them before, but I will provide those by which I proved the point to Trypho and his companions. Then I continued with what follows, where these words are recorded: ‘And the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking with Abraham, and [Abraham] returned to his place. Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom;’ and what follows until, ‘But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and closed the door;’ and what follows until, ‘The angels took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and his daughters' hands, the Lord being merciful to him. When they had brought them outside, they said, Save your life. Do not look back or stay anywhere in the area; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away.’ And Lot said to them, ‘I beg you, O Lord, since your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown great righteousness by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. Look, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is small: there I can be safe, since it is small; and any soul shall live.’ And He said to him, ‘Look, I have accepted you in this matter too, not to destroy the city you have spoken of. Hurry and save yourself there; for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore, he called the name of the city Segor (Zoar). The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Segor (Zoar). And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities and all the surrounding area."

After another pause, I added, "And now, have you not perceived, my friends, that one of the three, who is both God and Lord and serves Him who is in the heavens, is the Lord of the two angels? For when the angels proceeded to Sodom, He stayed behind and spoke with Abraham in the words recorded by Moses; and when He departed after the conversation, Abraham returned to his place. And when He came to Sodom, the two angels no longer spoke with Lot but He did, as the Scripture shows; and He is the Lord who received commission from the Lord who remains in the heavens, the Maker of all things, to bring upon Sodom and Gomorrah the judgments described in Scripture: ‘The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.’"