philosophers spoke of was Christ, described as the Logos (Word) in John’s gospel. Point by point, Justin looked at parts of the Bible that the pagans found hard to believe and observed that the pagan myths were much harder to accept and often contradicted each other. Perhaps the most appealing statement in the Apology is “never was the crucifixion imitated in any of the so-called sons of Zeus.” Justin had hit upon the core of the gospel: a son of a god—rather, the one Son of the only God—gave himself