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Justin Martyr (c. 100–165) lived during a time when persecution of Christians was increasing. In about 112, the Roman emperor Trajan supported the policy that a person brought into court and accused of being a Christian should be punished for that crime. Another wave of persecution broke out around mid-century during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180). Like many of his day, the Stoic emperor feared that calamities in the empire were the result of the growth of Christianity, so he ordered Christians be persecuted. One of those who suffered martyrdom during this time of persecution was the well-known church leader and apologist Justin Martyr.

Justin’s Conversion. Justin was reared in a prosperous pagan family. He was well-educated in the philosophies current in his day. In his search for truth, Justin studied various philosophies, including Stoicism and Platonism, but found that these sources of wisdom left him unsatisfied.

His conversion occurred somewhere around the year 130. At that time, he encountered an old man who pointed him to the prophets whose words had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and to Christians who had suffered and died for their faith. His own study of these teachings from Scripture led him to become a Christian. Justin turned his learning to the service of taking the gospel to the pagans. He became a defender of the faith, eventually founding a school in Rome.

Defender of the Faith. The work of defending the faith was a continual task of the early church, owing to the suspicion, criticism, and hostility encountered by Christianity. This effort produced a distinctive type of literature, the apology (from the Greek apologia). In the Greek tradition an apology was, strictly speaking, a speech offered by the accused in a judicial proceeding. In a Christian context, apologetics often refers to a reasoned defense of one’s belief or behavior. The work of the apologists of the second and third centuries strengthened a concern that already had appeared in the New Testament. Paul said he was appointed for the defense of the gospel (Phil. 1:17). Peter wrote that Christians should be ready always to give an answer for their hope (1 Pet. 3:15).

Justin and other apologists defended the gospel on two distinct fronts: Judaism and paganism. Jewish scholars objected to Christianity on grounds that it violated the law of God and that Jesus of Nazareth was not the promised Messiah. One of the most important efforts to address these objections was Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, which he composed around 155–160. Justin vindicated Christianity against the objections of the learned Jew Trypho, arguing that the gospel is the fulfillment of the Old Law. He used the Old Testament to show that the Hebrew prophets pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and the incarnate Son of God. He cites passages such as Isaiah 51:4 and Jeremiah 31:31–34 to show that the prophets promised the new covenant.

Far more serious was the opposition the early church encountered from the pagan Greco-Roman world. Many Gentiles were converted through the church’s missionary efforts, but others saw it as politically dangerous, socially offensive, or intellectually absurd. Critics of Christianity defended the antiquity of their ancestral religions, and how those religions were a vital part of their culture. Christianity, they maintained, was an innovation and an ignorant superstition of uneducated people. Christians were the victims of rumors and false accusations of immorality, antisocial lifestyles, and disloyalty to the state. Apologists of the second and third centuries sought to defend the faith against such accusations and the policies of a government that had become increasingly hostile. Some of them appealed to rulers.

The First Apology of Justin Martyr (c. 150) was addressed to emperor Antoninus Pius and his adopted sons. Justin urged the emperors to examine the charges against the Christians and to free them from liabilities if found innocent. He offered proof that Christians were neither atheists nor idolators. The major portion of the work discusses the morals, doctrines, and founder of Christianity, showing that the superior life and morality of Christ was foretold in the Old Testament. “Everywhere, we, more readily than all men, endeavor to pay to those appointed by you the taxes, both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him.”[1]  The final chapters discuss the worship of Christians. Justin concluded by arguing that the charges against Christians were false and that believers should be free from persecution.

“Memoirs of the Apostles.” In his writings Justin emphasized the importance of holding to the apostolic witness—a written witness consisting of what he calls their “memoirs.” He described the worship of the early church, stating that in the Sunday worship assemblies, the “memoirs of the apostles” were read together with the “writings of the prophets.” Concerning the Lord’s Supper, he states, “For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them….” He regarded the gospels as the “voice of God.”[2] He said the best answer to heresy is “to give heed to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, on which the passion has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proved.”[3]

Justin’s regard for the teachings of the apostles was significant in showing the importance of reliance upon Scripture and apostolic authority in dealing with heresy and as the basis of the church’s faith, teaching, and practice. It was also the fundamental principle followed by early Christians in acknowledging the canonicity of the New Testament documents. It is important to remember that the church did not determine the New Testament or in any sense authorize it. Canonicity was based on apostolic authority. Rather, early Christian writers like Justin recognized that these documents had apostolic authority behind them.

Critics. Justin was not without his critics, especially because he saw in the Scriptures and Christianity what he considered the “true philosophy.” He and other apologists stressed the priority of Christianity as the oldest religion and most ancient philosophy because Moses and the Old Testament predated the writings of the Greek philosophers. Like Justin, some of the apologists were trained in Greek philosophy prior to their conversion. They tended to look upon Greek philosophy as a means of leading men to Christ. Consequently, they sometimes adopted ideas and terminology of the philosophies current in their day. They attempted to explain Christianity in philosophical terms more familiar and acceptable to their audiences. While they were attempting to show the intellectual reasonableness of the faith, they often came to treat Christianity as a philosophical system in competition with others. So, these apologists sought to build bridges to the pagan world. They tended to see in the pagan world elements of truth they attributed to divine providence.

Others rejected every aspect of paganism, including the approach taken by Justin and others. Tertullian, for example, was critical of efforts to mix Greek philosophy with Christianity. “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from ‘the porch of Solomon,’ who had himself taught that ‘the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart.’ Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the gospel! With our faith, we desire no further belief. For this is our palmary faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides.”[4]

Martyrdom. Justin suffered martyrdom around 165. After being reported to the authorities for his teaching in Rome, Justin was tried, together with six companions, and was beheaded. The Martyrdom of Justin preserves the court record of the trial. According to the record, after the prefect called upon Justin and others with him to sacrifice to the gods or be tortured without mercy, Justin courageously replied: “That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at the more terrible universal tribunal of Our Lord and Savior.” The other martyrs joined Justin by saying, “Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols.”[5]

Dan Petty

[1] Justin Martyr First Apology 17.

[2] Justin Martyr First Apology 65–67.

[3] Justin Martyr To the Smyrneans 7.

[4] Tertullian Prescription Against Heretics 7.

[5] The Martyrdom of Justin.