This article is part of a series on the early church fathers. See also “Polycarp: Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr (Feb. 23)” and “Ignatius: Bishop of Antioch, ‘God-Bearer,’ Martyr (Oct. 17/Dec. 20),” and download a timeline of The Ancient Church (PDF).
Justin (c. 100–165) was a philosopher, apologist (defender of the Christian faith), justice advocate, layman (unordained member of the church), and famous martyr for Christ. After his death, he became known as Justin Martyr or Justin the Philosopher. Justin was the first to write extensively in defense of the faith against outsiders, confronting Romans, Jews, and heretics with arguments for the truth about Christ. Still in existence are his First Apology, Second Apology, and Dialogue with Trypho, as well as The Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Justin, Chariton, Charites, Paeon, and Liberianus, which records Justin’s trial and beheading in Rome. The Feast Day of St. Justin Martyr is celebrated on June 1 in the East and West (though it was formerly celebrated on April 14 in the West).
Early Life
Most of what we know about Justin Martyr is scattered throughout his own writings. Justin was born around AD 100–110 in the city of Neapolis in Samaria (now Nablus in the West Bank) and referred to his people as “the Samaritans” (Dial. with Tr. 120). After the Romans crushed the Jewish revolt of AD 132–136, the province of Judaea (which included the regions of Judea, Samaria, Idumea, and Galilee) was renamed Syria Palaestina, which is why Justin later identified himself as “the son of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, natives of Flavia Neapolis in Palestine” (1 Apol. 1).
Although he grew up just 37 miles north of Jerusalem, Justin’s family was not Jewish, and he referred to himself as “an uncircumcised man” (Dial. with Tr. 28). Since his father (Priscus) had a Latin name, and his grandfather (Bacchius) had a Greek name, Justin was likely of mixed Greco-Roman ancestry. His family may have been among the pagans who colonized Flavia Neapolis (“new city of the Flavians”) after it was founded by Emperor Flavius Vespasian in AD 72.
Justin’s family was likely wealthy and well-connected, and thus able to give him an excellent education. Through his studies, Justin developed a strong interest in philosophy and in what could be known about God through philosophical reflection. Justin’s thirst for knowledge led him to travel (likely in Ephesus, a center of philosophical discussions) in search of philosophers who could mentor him.
Search for True Philosophy
Justin began by committing himself to the tutelage of a philosopher from the Stoic school (Dial. with Tr. 2), which had been founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 BC and was named for the place where the Stoics originally taught—the Stoa Poikilē (“Painted Porch”), a colonnaded building in Athens, where the Apostle Paul conversed with Stoic philosophers in Acts 17:18. Stoicism taught that the universe is guided by an active, rational principle (the logos) which could be considered as a kind of universal god. They rejected the pantheon of Greek gods as irrational, and taught that every individual should try to understand as much as possible about the rational universe and conform their life to it. Since what happens in the rational universe—good or bad—cannot be controlled, we should simply accept it, instead of being ruled by our fears and desires, and thereby gain contentment. While Justin was initially intrigued by these teachings, he grew disappointed by his Stoic teacher: “After spending some time with him and learning nothing new about God (for my instructor had no knowledge of God, nor did he consider such knowledge necessary), I left him” (Dial. with Tr. 2).
Next, Justin turned to a “Peripatetic” (Dial. with Tr. 2), which likely refers to a member of the school founded by Aristotle around 335 BC. Whatever the case, Justin quickly moved on from him. The Peripatetic required tuition upfront to guarantee that their relationship would not be unprofitable for him, and Justin, concerned only for the truth, saw this as a sign that the man was not a real philosopher.
After moving on from the Stoic and the Peripatetic, Justin approached a famous Pythagorean whom he respected as a man of great knowledge. To Justin’s discouragement, the Pythagorean philosopher turned him away because Justin was not well-studied in music, astronomy, and geometry.
Justin was deeply troubled, and feared that he would never find a suitable teacher. Then, Justin remembered the great reputation of the Platonists, and found a wise man who was highly esteemed by a group of Platonists that had recently arrived in the city. Justin spent as much time with him as he could, and finally began to make progress in his understanding of higher realities:
Under him I forged ahead in philosophy and day by day I improved. The perception of incorporeal [non-material] things quite overwhelmed me and the Platonic theory of ideas added wings to my mind, so that in a short time I imagined myself a wise man. So great was my folly that I fully expected immediately to gaze upon God, for this is the goal of Plato’s philosophy. (Dial. with Tr. 2)
Plato, a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, was one of the most influential philosophers in the ancient world. He founded a great school called the Academy in Athens around 387 BC, composed around 30 dialogues, and changed the course of philosophy forever. The Platonic theory of “ideas” to which Justin refers is the belief that there is an ideal world, a higher level of reality, in which perfect “ideas” or “forms” such as goodness, truth, and beauty really exist. These forms are imperfectly reflected in the lower, temporal, material world in which we live. Plato’s successors at the Academy developed his thought in various directions, and Justin lived during the period known as Middle Platonism.
Discovering True Philosophy
The turning point in Justin’s life came around AD 132, possibly at Ephesus, when Justin was about 30 years old. While retreating to a field near the sea to reflect in silence, as was his custom, Justin was surprised to encounter a wise, venerable old man in the secluded area. When Justin told the old man that he was there to reflect on philosophy, he began to ask Justin probing questions, challenging Justin’s thinking and the limits of Plato’s knowledge. After a dialogue about God, the soul, the universe, and human destiny, the old man pointed Justin to the writings of the Old Testament prophets, who had spoken by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore had superior insights into the truth about God and Christ his Son: “Their writings are still extant, and whoever reads them with proper faith will profit greatly in his knowledge of the origin and end of things, and of any other matter that a philosopher should know” (Dial. with Tr. 7).
The old man went his way, and Justin never saw him again, but the conversation ignited in Justin’s heart an intense hunger to read and know the Scriptures.
My spirit was immediately set on fire, and an affection for the prophets, and for those who are friends of Christ, took hold of me; while pondering on his words, I discovered that his was the only sure and useful philosophy. Thus it is that I am now a philosopher. Furthermore, it is my wish that everyone would be of the same sentiments as I, and never spurn the Savior’s words; for they have in themselves such tremendous majesty that they can instil fear into those who have wandered from the path of righteousness, whereas they ever remain a great solace to those who heed them. (Dial. with Tr. 8)
In the writings of the prophets and the apostles, Justin found a more rational and complete view of God and of life. He came to see Christianity as the true and better philosophy to which all other philosophy had led him, and to see Jesus as the true Logos (“Word,” John 1:1) by whom the universe was created and ordered. Justin continued to walk around in the pallium (the philosopher’s cloak), and to be a philosopher, no longer in the school of Plato but in the school of Christ.
Ephesus and the Dialogue with Trypho
One of Justin’s first major debates as a Christian philosopher may have been with a Jew named Trypho at Ephesus around AD 135. While Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho was not actually written down until sometime between AD 155–161, and some think that Trypho was a fictional character used by Justin to represent Jewish views (as in Plato’s fictional dialogues), Eusebius claims that Trypho was a real person—“a most distinguished man among the Hebrews of that day” (EH 4.18.6).
In the Dialogue, Trypho expresses the Jews’ primary objection: Christians claim to be pious and God-fearing, but they do not keep God’s law, such as circumcision and the Sabbath, and place their hope instead in a crucified man. Justin argues that Christians worship the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but “our hope is not through Moses or through the Law” (Dial. with Tr. 11). The Law of Moses, including circumcision, the Sabbath, and even the temple building, was given to the Jews because of the sinfulness and stubbornness of their hearts, and was never meant for all people or for all times. “An everlasting and final law, Christ Himself, and a trustworthy covenant has been given to us, after which there shall be no law, or commandment, or precept” (Dial. with Tr. 11). This new and everlasting covenant was foretold by the prophets and has made the law given at Mt. Sinai “obsolete” (Dial. with Tr. 11; cf. Heb. 8:13).
If God, therefore, predicted that He would make a new covenant, and this for a light to the nations, and we see and are convinced that, through the name of the crucified Jesus Christ, men have turned to God, leaving behind them idolatry and other sinful practices, and have kept the faith and have practiced piety even unto death, then everyone can clearly see from these deeds and the accompanying powerful miracles that He is indeed the New Law, the new covenant, and the expectation of those who, from every nation, have awaited the blessings of God. We have been led to God through the crucified Christ, and we are the true spiritual Israel, and the descendants of Juda, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, who, though uncircumcised, was approved and blessed by God because of his faith and was called the father of many nations. (Dial. with Tr. 11)
Justin confronts the Jews for their blindness in failing to recognize their own Messiah: “The Lawgiver has come, and you do not see Him. … What you really need is another circumcision, though you boast of that of the flesh” (Dial. with Tr. 12). The “New Law” demands a circumcision of the heart and a “perpetual Sabbath”—a total and continual rest from ungodly ways. True cleansing does not come by the blood of goats and sheep, but “by faith through the blood and the death of Christ who suffered death for this precise purpose” (Dial. with Tr. 13). “The blood of circumcision is now abolished, and we now trust in the blood of salvation. Another testament, a new Law, has now come out of Sion” (Dial with Tr. 24).
Rome and the First and Second Apology
At some point, Justin settled in Rome and, during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (AD 138–161), wrote his First Apology (c. AD 148–155) and Second Apology (c. AD 155–160). The word “apology” in this context means a “defense” (as in “apologetics,” from the Greek apologia—“speaking in defense”).
Justin was troubled by how the Roman authorities, who claimed to be the guardians of a just and peaceful society, were unfairly treating Christians based on rumors and prejudice. For example, in his Second Apology, Justin tells the story of a Roman man whose wife was converted to Christian and instructed by a teacher named Ptolemaeus. The Roman man asked his personal friend, a centurion, to summon Ptolemaeus and ask him just one question: “Are you a Christian?” Although Ptolemaeus was a virtuous and law-abiding citizen, he was thrown in prison, mistreated, and then sentenced to execution by the Roman prefect Urbicus. When a Christian named Linus and another Christian objected to the unreasonableness of the sentence, they two were carried away to execution for professing to be Christians.
In his First Apology, Justin appeals directly to Emperor Antoninus, his sons, the Roman senate, and the whole Roman people. He boldly calls for the Roman rulers to consider the facts and govern according to truth. Each person should be judged as an individual and only condemned if they have broken the law by doing evil. No one should be condemned simply because they bear the name “Christian.” “You hear yourselves everywhere called pious men and philosophers, guardians of justice and lovers of learning: whether you really deserve this reputation will now become evident” (1 Apol. 2). Contrary to the accusations against Christians in general, Justin insisted, “we shall prove that we worship [God] with reason” (1 Apol. 13). “Hereafter, you will be without excuse before God, if you know the truth, yet do not act in accordance with justice” (1 Apol. 2).
In his work, Justin dispels common misconceptions about Christianity. When the Romans heard that Christians looked for another “kingdom,” they rashly assumed that Christians were not loyal citizens or even guilty of treason. Justin explained that Christians were not looking for another merely human kingdom to overthrow Rome, but for a heavenly kingdom from God, and “because we do not place our hope in the present, we do not mind when men murder us, since death is inevitable anyhow” (1 Apol. 11).
Far from being traitors to Rome, “[Christians], more than all other men, are truly your helpers and allies in fostering peace” (1 Apol. 12). Unlike those who break the Roman law because they think that they can elude the authorities, Christians never break the law because they know that nothing eludes God, who will punish sinners with eternal fire. Christians pay all their taxes (1 Apol. 17) and lead exemplary lives: “Many men and women who were disciples of Christ from childhood remain pure at sixty and seventy years of age; I am proud to say that I can cite examples from every nation (1 Apol. 15). Justin goes as far as to call upon the Roman authorities to punish those who do not act as true Christians: “We ask that you also punish all those who call themselves Christians, but are not living according to His teachings” (1 Apol. 16).
Although Christians do not worship the Roman emperor or Roman gods, it is not because they are rebellious or seditious: “Only God do we worship, but in other things we joyfully obey you, acknowledging you as the kings and rulers of men, and praying that you may be found to have, besides royal power, sound judgment” (1 Apol. 17).
Another common accusation was that Christians were “atheists” since they denied the existence of the Roman gods and spoke of an “invisible God,” which seemed unreal to most Romans. Justin rejected this accusation and argued that the true God does not have a form that can be depicted by craftsman (often wicked themselves), and must be worshipped in appropriate ways: “What sensible person will not admit that we are not atheists, since we worship the Creator of this world and assert, as we have been taught, that He has no need of bloody sacrifices, libations, and incense” (1 Apol. 13). True worship is to help the needy and to praise God with thankful voices in prayer and hymns.
As special proof, Justin emphasized the core Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead: “We believe in God not less, but more than they do, since we expect that our own bodies, even though they should be dead and buried in the earth, will be revived; for we claim that nothing is impossible with God” (1 Apol. 18). How can Christians be called atheists when the Christian hope is for God to perform something so incredible?
While Justin engages with the philosophies of his day, he devotes the most substantial portion of his First Apology to recounting Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s coming: “We are actual eye-witnesses of events that have happened and are happening in the very manner in which they were foretold. This, we are sure, will appear even to you the greatest and truest proof” (1 Apol. 30). Justin explains,
In the books of the Prophets, indeed, we found Jesus our Christ foretold as coming to us born of a virgin, reaching manhood, curing every disease and ailment, raising the dead to life, being hated, unrecognized, and crucified, dying, rising from the dead, ascending into Heaven, and being called and actually being the Son of God. And [we found predicted also] that He would send certain persons to every nation to make known these things, and that the former Gentiles rather [than Jews] would believe in him. He was foretold, in truth, before He actually appeared, first five thousand years before, then three thousand, then two thousand, then one thousand, and, finally, eight hundred. For, in succeeding generations new Prophets rose time and again. (1 Apol. 31)
While Justin does not engage at length with Greek philosophy in his apologies, he highlights some of the similarities between Christianity and Platonism, even claiming that Plato “borrowed” from Moses (1 Apol. 59–60). According to Justin, the same Logos (“Word”) who spoke through the prophets of Israel was also at work in pagan philosophers, who saw darkly what Christians now see clearly because of the coming of Christ:
I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic word, seeing what was related to it. But they who contradict themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the heavenly wisdom, and the knowledge which cannot be spoken against. Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since also He became man for our sakes, that becoming a partaker of our sufferings, He might also bring us healing. For all the writers were able to see realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted word that was in them. For the seed and imitation impacted according to capacity is one thing, and quite another is the thing itself, of which there is the participation and imitation according to the grace which is from Him. (2 Apol. 13)
Justin’s First Apology also dispels some of the ridiculous myths about Christian practices that had spread throughout the Roman Empire. For example, Christians were thought to be cannibals since they spoke of eating someone’s body and blood in their weekly worship! Justin explained how Christians actually worship and administer the sacraments, gathering every Sunday for Scripture reading, preaching, prayer, and the Lord’s Supper, and to take up an offering for the poor:
And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. (1 Apol. 67)
Arrest, Trial, and Beheading
Justin’s outspoken defense of the Christian faith attracted many opponents in Rome, such as the Cynic philosopher Crescens. Justin writes of suspecting that Crescens or some of his other opponents will instigate a persecution against him (2 Apol. 3). While the exact details of Justin’s arrest are unknown, Justin and several other Christians in Rome were seized by the Roman authorities around 165 AD.
A work titled The Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Justin, Chariton, Charites, Paeon, and Liberianus provides a seemingly reliable account of how Justin was taken before the judgment seat of Rusticus, the prefect of Rome. The work records the following dialogue between Rusticus and Justin:
Rusticus: Obey the gods at once, and submit to the kings.
Justin: To obey the commandments of our Saviour Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation. Rusticus: What kind of doctrines do you profess?
Justin: I have endeavoured to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.
Rusticus: Are those the doctrines that please you, you utterly wretched man?
Justin: Yes, since I adhere to them with right dogma.
Rusticus: What is the dogma?
Justin: That according to which we worship the God of the Christians, whom we reckon to be one from the beginning, the maker and fashioner of the whole creation, visible and invisible; and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had also been preached beforehand by the prophets as about to be present with the race of men, the herald of salvation and teacher of good disciples. And I, being a man, think that what I can say is insignificant in comparison with His boundless divinity, acknowledging a certain prophetic power, since it was prophesied concerning Him of whom now I say that He is the Son of God. For I know that of old the prophets foretold His appearance among men.
Rusticus: Where do you assemble?
Justin: Where each one chooses and can: for do you fancy that we all meet in the very same place? Not so; because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful.
Rusticus: Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers?
Justin: I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth.
Rusticus: Are you not, then, a Christian?
Justin: Yes, I am a Christian.
Rusticus: Hearken, you who are called learned, and think that you know true doctrines; if you are scourged and beheaded, do you believe you will ascend into heaven?
Justin: I hope that, if I endure these things, I shall have His gifts. For I know that, to all who have thus lived, there abides the divine favour until the completion of the whole world.
Rusticus: Do you suppose, then, that you will ascend into heaven to receive some recompense?
Justin: I do not suppose it, but I know and am fully persuaded of it.
Rusticus: Let us, then, now come to the matter in hand, and which presses. Having come together, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods.
Justin: No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety.
Rusticus: Unless you obey, you shall be mercilessly punished.
Justin: Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour.
Rusticus (pronouncing sentence): Let those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the command of the emperor be scourged, and led away to suffer the punishment of decapitation, according to the laws.
After Rusticus pronounced the sentence,
The holy martyrs having glorified God, and having gone forth to the accustomed place, were beheaded, and perfected their testimony in the confession of the Saviour. And some of the faithful having secretly removed their bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Conclusion
By contending for Christianity in the public sphere and at the highest levels of Roman government, Justin helped to establish Christianity as a serious philosophical option in the Roman Empire. He continues to be a source of teaching, inspiration, and wisdom for Christian theologians and apologists.
To this day, the Feast Day of St. Justin Martyr is celebrated on June 1 in the East and West. The following collect (short prayer) for the Feast of Justin Martyr is a fitting conclusion to this article:
O God, you have given your church wisdom and revealed to it deep and secret things: Grant that we, like your servant Justin and in union with his prayers, may find your Word an abiding refuge all the days of our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
