St. Justin Martyr
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Justin Martyr. He was probably the best known of the apologists for Christianity in the second century. He was born in Nablus in Palestine and later travelled to Ephesus. He sought instruction in the various philosophical schools of the time, the Stoic, the Aristotelian, the Pythagorean and finally the Platonist. He found more wisdom with the Platonist than any of the others, but it still seemed that something was lacking. Finally he met an old man who told him about the Christian faith. He found in this the answer to his quest for truth, but he continued to see himself as a philosopher. He later moved to Rome where he established a school. He wrote a famous apologia in the defence of the Christian faith against pagan critics, which he later supplemented with a second apologia. He also wrote an account of a dialogue with a Jew called Trypho, in which he defended Christianity against the attacks from non-Christian Judaism. His fearless defence of the Christian faith in a hostile pagan environment led him to be brought to trial and executed around 165 for his refusal to acknowledge the imperial cult.
What was most distinctive about St. Justin Martyr’s apology for Christianity was his recognition that, while the fullness of truth was only to be found in Jesus, other philosophies contained seeds of truth and could not therefore be totally written off. The focus of the biblical revelation was on the truth revealed to Moses and the prophets in the Old Testament. However, the biblical witness also contained Wisdom literature which was less historically orientated and placed more emphasis on a way to lead a good life in a manner which could also be found in comparable literature in other cultures and traditions. In the time of Jesus, an Alexandrian Jew called Philo developed this tradition even further in an allegorical reading of the Bible which sought to show that the truths which found expression in Greek philosophy and in particular that of Plato were compatible with the biblical revelation in the life of the people of Israel. Philo justified this by an appeal to the concept of the Logos, the Word, which had spoken to Moses and the prophets, but had also not been without witness in the Greek philosophers. St. Justin Martyr continued in this tradition. Like Philo he found that the works of Plato contained the most wisdom among the philosophers. It was true that Plato had erred in certain respects such as his belief in the pre-existence of the soul, but it was remarkable how much Plato had got right. Socrates had rightly perceived how corrupt the pagan culture was and had consequently been put to death for seeking a higher form of life than was available in his time. In this sense, Socrates and Plato could even be said to be Christians before Christ.
St. Justin said that he strived 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 others, Stoics and poets and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the generative word or reason, seeing what was related to it… What things were rightly said among all teachers, 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 the realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted word that was in them. For the seed and imitation imparted 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.”
It has often been rightly observed that St. Justin is not a particularly profound or sure footed theologian. He was certainly not a thinker on the same level as St. Augustine, or St. Athanasius or the Cappadocian fathers. That being said his thesis of other religions and philosophies not being entirely erroneous and containing seeds of the truth that is fully found in Jesus remains essential to us today as we strive both to hold firm to our faith in the Word made flesh who dwelt among us, as well as acknowledge elements of truth that can be found in other religions and cultures. Since the truth is one all that is positive in other religions and cultures must be seen as pointing to Christ rather than away from him. The true light that lighteth every man has not left himself without witness. But the central truth of the Word made flesh was not found, as St. Augustine later admitted, in the works of the Platonists. The teachings of Confucius or the Buddha contain seeds of the truth, but ultimately, like the Greek philosophers, they contain only good advice and not good news. By contrast, as St. Justin Martyr himself found, what the world needed was not simply good advice that could be imparted by the philosophers, but good news, the good news of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
St. Justin is also especially significant in that, unlike the other apologists who wrote in the second century, he also describes the Christian worship of his time. The other apologists did not do this because, since Christianity was technically illegal, they felt that they needed to be very cautious about revealing exactly what happened in Christian worship. By contrast, St. Justin believed that the best way to dispel false rumours about the worship of the Church was to describe it. We can therefore learn a lot from him about how the Church in his time worshipped.
Let us now listen to what St. Justin says: “But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer earnest prayers for ourselves and for the newly enlightened person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. At the end of the prayers we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water, and he taking them offers up praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and gives thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these thanks at his hands. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings all the people present express their joyful assent by saying Amen. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their joyful assent those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. And this food is called among us Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things that we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins and unto a second birth, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner, as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food that is blessed by the word of prayer transmitted from him, and by which our blood and flesh by assimilation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.”
Let us take heed to these words today and the life and witness of St. Justin Martyr, as we strive to continue to uphold the faith once delivered to the saints in our own time and place.
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