Justin Martyr

(c. 100–c. 165)

   Saint, Martyr and Theologian.

   Justin was born into a pagan family in Nablus, Samaria, and was converted to Christianity in 132, having studied the pagan philosophies. He taught first in Ephesus and then in Rome. Finally he was denounced as a Christian and he died a martyr’s death. He is remembered for his two apologies for Christianity. In the first, he argued that Christianity, of all the philosophies, had the only rational creed. The Word of God became human in order to teach his people the truth and to save them from the power of demons. However, he insisted that all human beings share in divine reason, but it is only in Jesus Christ that the full Logos resides.

   He also described the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. The second apology, which is much shorter, rebutted particular charges against Christians and fulminated against their persecution. He was also the author of the Dialogues with Trypho in which he discussed the place of Jew and Gentile in God’s plan. Justin is generally recognised as the most outstanding of the early apologists.

   L.W. Barnard, Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought (1967);

   E. Osborn, Justin Martyr (1973).