Justin
Martyr
.
edited by Charles E.
Moore
Justin died 165 AD
in Rome
After the death of the last of Christ’s
apostles, a new era for Christianity began. As
the faith spread across the Roman world, it met
many challenges to its claims and practices.
Internally, heresies and cultic expressions
began to confuse and divide the church,
demanding response from its theologians.
Externally, persecution – never far away
for the early Christians – grew, the Roman
Empire having outlawed the Christian religion. A
key reason that the Roman government – typically
tolerant of the diverse beliefs of its many
conquered peoples – so despised Christians was
the exclusive devotion of these men and women to
the rustic Hebrew figure of Christ, whom they
worshiped as the Son of God. Accustomed to
pantheons of lesser and greater divinities, Rome
might have better tolerated Christians if they
had not refused to participate in the obligatory
emperor worship – a required show of loyalty not
just to a god but to the empire itself. Refusal
to profess Caesar as lord was seen as treason
and prosecuted with torture and summary
execution.
It was into this world that Justin was born, to
a pagan, gentile family living in Flavia
Neapolis (the biblical town of Shechem). His
education left him unsatisfied, as his teachers
failed to engage the bright boy’s mind. Always
curious about God, Justin bounced from one
school to another, seeking answers to his
questions with teachers from the refined Stoic,
Aristotelian, Pythagorean, and Platonic
philosophical traditions.
While Plato’s ideas very much appealed to him,
it was not until Justin met an old Christian man
while walking near the beach (possibly at
Ephesus) that he found the truth he was looking
for. Their conversation convinced Justin that
the ancient prophets were a more reliable source
of truth than the philosophers. He changed the
course of his life and study, giving his heart
and well-trained mind to God. Traveling and
teaching, he began to speak of
Christianity as the “true philosophy.” He
adopted the traditional gown of a philosopher,
eventually traveling to Rome, where he founded a
small school after the custom of the classic
philosophers.
This began a period of public work and teaching.
Justin was an outspoken apologist for the faith,
addressing his
First Apology directly to
the emperor in response to persecution of
Christians. Well-versed in philosophy and
comparative religions, he sparred with opponents
both inside and outside the faith,
refuting heresies and advocating for
Christians in the wider public sphere. His
position that “seeds of Christianity” predated
Christ’s incarnation allowed him to look
favorably on elements of pagan thought that
corresponded with or supported the tenets of
Christianity, and thus he could refute the
accusations of even the most educated of his
pagan neighbors.
But his combative defense of the faith
eventually made him enemies in the city. One of
the philosophers he had argued with, a Cynic
named Crescens, became a bitter enemy. According
to Tatian, one of Justin’s students, Crescens
plotted against Justin and likely betrayed him
to the authorities.
Whatever prompted their arrest, Justin and a
group of his fellow Christians (likely his
students) were captured and brought before the
Roman prefect, Junius Rusticus. He addressed
Justin, the obvious spokesman of the group.
“Obey the gods at once,” he demanded, “and
submit to the emperors.”
Justin, accustomed to defending his faith,
replied immediately, “To obey the commands of
our savior Jesus Christ is not worthy of blame
or condemnation.”
“What kinds of doctrines do you believe?”
Rusticus asked.
“I have studied all faiths,” Justin returned,
“but I have believed in the true doctrines,
those of the Christians – even though they do
not please those who hold false opinions.”
Rusticus felt the barb. “Are those the doctrines
that please you, you utterly wretched man?”
“Yes,” Justin replied.
“What do you believe?” the prefect asked again.
Justin answered, “We worship the God of the
Christians, whom we believe 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 has been
preached beforehand by the prophets as the
herald of salvation. Since I am only a man,
anything I can say is insignificant compared to
his boundless divinity as the Son of God.”
Rusticus questioned him further. “Where do you
Christians meet?”
“Where each one chooses and can,” Justin said,
“Do you imagine we all meet in the same place?
Not so – the God of the Christians is not
limited by place, but being invisible, fills
heaven and earth. He is worshiped and glorified
everywhere by the faithful.”
“Tell me where you assemble,” Rusticus
pressed, “or into what place you collect your
followers.”
“I live above a man named Martinus at the
Timiotinian Bath,” said Justin. “I don’t know of
any meeting in Rome other than this. If any wish
to join me, I teach them the doctrines of
truth.”
“Are you not, then, a Christian?” Rusticus
demanded.
“Yes,” Justin said. “I am a Christian.”
Justin’s companions were also questioned, and
gave steadfast witness to Christ. With their
loyalties established, the prefect addressed
Justin once again. “Listen, you who are called
learned, you who think you know the truth. If
you are scourged and beheaded, do you believe
you will go up to heaven?”
Justin replied, “I hope that, if I endure those
things, I shall have God’s gifts. For I know
that all who have lived faithfully will abide in
his favor until the end of the world.”
“You think you will ascend to receive some
reward then?” Rusticus asked.
“I do not ‘think’ it, but I know and am fully
persuaded of it,” Justin declared.
“Then let us come to the point of the matter,”
the prefect continued. “You have come here
together. Now sacrifice, with one accord, to the
gods.”
“No right-thinking person falls away from piety
to impiety,” Justin said.
“Unless you all obey, you will be mercilessly
punished,” Rusticus threatened.
“Through prayer,” Justin replied, “we can be
saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even
when we have been punished. This shall become
salvation and confidence for us at another
judgment seat – the more fearful and universal
one of our Lord and Savior.” The other
Christians agreed with Justin’s witness. “Do
what you will,” they said. “We are Christians
and do not sacrifice to idols.”
With this, the trial was concluded. Rusticus
pronounced their sentence. “Let those who have
refused to sacrifice to the gods and yield to
the command of the emperor be scourged and led
away to suffer the punishment of decapitation,
according to the laws.”
Justin and his companions were taken to the
customary place of execution. In accordance with
their sentence, they were beaten and then
beheaded. Their fellow Christians secretly
retrieved their bodies and gave them an honored
burial as martyrs, rejoicing that their
companions had remained faithful and inherited
eternal life.
This article
is
exceprted
from Bearing
Witness: Stories of Martyrdom
and Costly Discipleship, edited by
Charles E. Moore, and published by (c)
Plough Publishing House, Walden, New York Robertsbridge,
England/ Elsmore, Australia
www.plough.com
Source:Drawn
primarily from The Ante-Nicene Fathers,
edited by Philip Schaff, et al. Schaff's
introduction and textual notes give more
detail to the story than is given here.
top illustration: Mosaic of St. Justin
Martyr, Mount of the Beatitudes, Galilee,
Commons Wikimedia
