St Justin (100-165): the unapologetic apologist
The
image shows Justin explaining Christianity to the roman world.
He was
an educated pagan who became drawn to Christianity initially through his
searches in philosophy.
He then went on to promote Christianity himself
through dialogue with pagans and Jews and through his writings. He was
beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods.
Youth
Justin was born around 100 AD at Nablus (=
Shechem) in Samaria of parents of Greek origin.
He was well-educated in
rhetoric, poetry and history before turning to philosophy, which he
studied at Ephesus and Alexandria.
From his youth he had a thirst for
rational enquiry (Greek logos) and searched for the truth for his life and for the true God in Greek philosophers, especially Plato, with some success.
Conversion
In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
Justin tells that one day an old man he met on the seashore told him
that only through revelation and prayer would he find his way to God and
“true philosophy”.
This led Justin to begin reading the Old Testament prophets and to
see them fulfilled in Jesus.
Jesus then became for him the truth for
life, the Logos that made everything else comprehensible and
the source of the art of living virtuously.
He became a Christian when
he was about thirty-three and remained a laymen.
“It is our duty to make
our teaching known,” he wrote, so he travelled from place to place
proclaiming the gospel.
He kept his high regard for philosophers saying that they, like the
Old Testament prophets, had the seeds of the true word, but it was only
Jesus who is the really true Word. And he sought to spread knowledge of
Christianity as the true philosophy.
Unapologetic apologist
Apologia
(meaning "the justification or defence of an idea or an act") was the
title Plato had given to the speech Socrates made before his death
defending his way of life, his beliefs and actions.
Justin is regarded
as the first Christian apologist as he defends and gives good reasons
for the Christian way of life. But he also had a missionary concern,
wanting to explain the content of the faith in a language and on a
wavelength comprehensible to his contemporaries.
The post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelisation in the Modern World quotes
him, saying that we should recognise the many "seeds of the Word" in
religions other than Christianity that are a genuine "preparation for
the gospel" (Evangelii Nuntiandi 53).
Justin’s First Apologia, addressed to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), along with his Second Apologia, addressed
to Romans in general, set out a positive exposition of Christianity and
try to convince the readers of the injustice of the persecution of
Christians.
Chapters 61-67 of the First Apologia give a very interesting account of how baptism, the eucharist and Sunday were celebrated in rome around 150 AD.
His Dialogue with Trypho is a later work telling of his
search for God in the Greek philosophers and presents Jesus as the
supreme exemplar of virtue and truth.
Later years and death at Rome
Justin seems to
have lived at Rome in his later years promoting Christianity through his
writings and his through dialogues with Jews and pagans.
He was
beheaded with five other men and a woman for refusing the request to
sacrifice to the gods.
His reply was: “No right-minded man forsakes
truth for falsehood”.
A model for dialogue
Pope Benedict (Audience
21-3-07) praised Justin’s choice of philosophy - as distinct from the
pagan religions - as a medium for dialogue about the true religion and
as a method of critiquing cultural fashions and fads.
Pope John Paul II also described Justin as a "pioneer of positive
engagement with philosophical thinking - albeit with cautious
discernment.... Although he continued to hold Greek philosophy in high
esteem after his conversion, Justin claimed with power and clarity that
he had found in Christianity 'the only sure and profitable philosophy' (Dial. 8: 1)" (Fides et Ratio, n. 38).