Saint for the month - 1st
June 2004 Justin Martyr
Justin's parents were Greek pagans, living at Flavia
Neopolis in Samaria.Justin made a long study of
philosophy, finding that the teachings of Plato, though
by no means identical with Christianity, led him to
embrace the teachings of Jesus. He became a bold defender
of Christianity, trying to to show that faith was compatible
with rational thought. Thus Justin can be regarded as the
first great Christian philosopher.
At a time when Christians were continually subject to
persecution by the state authorities, his first open
defence of Christianity was addressed to the Emperor
Antoninus Pius, along with the emperor's three adopted
sons. His second great public defence, written about the
year 161, was addressed to the Roman Senate itself.
Justin did not believe that everything he had learned
before becoming a Christian must necessarily be untrue.
'Those who have been inspired by the creative word of
God, see through this a measure of the truth,' he wrote.
'We are taught that Christ, the first born of God, is the
word of which the whole human race partakes, so that
those who before him lived according to reason may be
called Christian, even though accounted atheists.'
Justin wanted to embrace people like the Greek Socrates
and the Jewish father Abraham into the fold of
Christianity,
Twice he visited Rome, but his public writings made him
suspect to the authorities. A rival philosopher named
Crescens denounced him, five other men and a woman, about
the year 165, Rusticus, the prefect of Rome, asked if
they would sacrifice to idols. Justin replied, 'No
right-minded man forsakes truth for false-hood,' and so
all seven were beheaded.
'Is this not the task of
philosophy to enquire
about the divine
St Justin Martyr
Richard F Sibley
June 2004
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