Synopsis
Justin came from a Greek-speaking non-Jewish
family living in Flavia Neapolis (Shechem) in Samaria.1 He wrote of how he searched for truth, attaching himself
to a succession of philosophical schools: Stoicism,
Aristotelianism, Pythagorianism and
Platonism.2 Finally (in
about AD 130)3 he met an old man while walking on
the seashore at Ephesus who pointed out some of the weaknesses in his Platonic
system. He showed Justin how the Old Testament predicted the coming of Christ;
but it was seeing the courage of the Christian martyrs that finally convinced
him.4 Still wearing his philosopher’s
cloak5 he dedicated the rest of his life to
defending orthodox Christianity against its philosophical opponents.6
During the reign of Antoninus Pius (AD
138-161) Justin ministered in Rome, founding a school that attracted a wide
variety of students, including Tatian from Nisibis in
Assyria, Irenaeus from Smyrna and Theophilus from
near the Euphrates.7 There he vigorously opposed
the Cynic philosopher Crescens,8 the Gnostic Valentinians,
the Marcionites9 and the
Jews.10 Justin earned
his surname when he perished during the persecution of Christians by Marcus
Aurelius (121-180) in about AD 165.11
Most scholars agree that Justin was verbose,
confused, inconsistent and often not convincing in his arguments. Nevertheless,
he is an important figure in the history of the Church. For him Christianity
was "theoretically, the true philosophy,12 and,
practically, a new law of holy living and dying.13 The former is chiefly the position of the Apologies,
the latter that of the Dialogue."14 In
recent years the traditional view that Justin’s theology was dominated by
his philosophical background has been questioned. As we shall see, his view of
creation was very much influenced by Platonism. He used philosophy as a tool to
spread orthodox Christianity, rather than translate Christianity into an
academic philosophical system.15
Justin used allegory extensively in his
writings, but it was the Palestinian allegory of the Rabbis rather than the
Alexandrian allegory of Philo.16 Given that Justin was born in Samaria this it is not
really surprising. For Justin, the key to understanding the Old Testament was
Christ and his Christocentric interpretation meant that the meaning of the
original writers was considered unimportant.17
There appears to be some dispute as to how much of his hermeneutic Justin
derived from his study of the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament.
W.H.C. Frend states that there "is no evidence that he was influenced by any of
the writers of the NT."18 William Shotwell, on
the other hand, argues at length that Justin was heavily dependent on the New
Testament writers.19 However, Shotwell also
states that the New Testament writers were not interested in the historical
background of the Old Testament passages they used,20 and the validity of such a statement is extremely
doubtful. In balance I think that it is most likely that Justin formulated his
method of interpretation from a variety of sources: the New Testament, his
Christian predecessors, Palestinian Jewish exegesis, and Stoic allegory.21
Rob Bradshaw, Webmaster
References
1(48) Robert M.
Grant, Greek Apologists of the Second Century. (London: SCM, 1988), 50;
Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 1.1 (ANF, Vol. 1, 163).
2 Justin Martyr, Dialogue, 2
(ANF, Vol. 1, 195).
3 L.W.
Barnard, Justin Martyr, His Life and Thought. (Cambridge: CUP, 1967),
13, places the date of his conversion shortly before the Bar Vochba rebellion
of 132-135.
4 Justin Martyr,
2 Apology, 12.2; Eusebius, History, 4.8.5 (NPNF, 2nd
series, Vol. 1, 181).
5 Justin,
Dialogue, 1 (ANF, Vol. 1, 163); Eusebius, History, 4.11.8
(NPNF, 2nd series, Vol. 1, 184).
6 Barnard,
12.
7 Philip
Carrington, The Early Christian Church, Vol. 2. (Cambridge: CUP, 1957),
101-102.
8 Justin
Martyr, 2 Apology, 3.1 (ANF, Vol. 1, 189).
9 Justin Martyr,
1 Apology, 26.8; 58 (ANF, Vol. 1, 171-172, 182).
10 Justin
Martyr, Dialogue, Theodore Stylianopoulos, "Justin Martyr," Everett
Ferguson, ed., Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. New York: Garland
Press, 1990. pp.514-516.
11 Barnard,
13.
12 Justin,
Dialogue, 100.8 (ANF, Vol. 1, 249).
13 Justin,
Dialogue, 100.11 (ANF, Vol. 1, 249).
14 Philip
Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 2, 1910. (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1989), 722.
15
Stylianopoulos, "Justin Martyr," Everett Ferguson, ed., Encyclopedia of
Early Christianity. New York: Garland Press, 1990. p.515.
16 William A.
Shotwell, The Biblical Exegesis of Justin Martyr. (London: SPCK, 1965),
40: "In Palestine it was symbolical and 3typological, but in Hellenistic
Judaism it was generally philosophical and mystical."
17 Shotwell,
7-8.
18 Shotwell,
42: "Although, in the Apologies and the Dialogue, Justin dues not use the word
"allegory" to describe his method, he does use the allegorical method of
interpretation. He interprets the Old Testament as saying one thing and yet
meaning another. This is allegory as it is defined by the Greek themselves."
See Pseudo-Heraclitus, Quaestiones Homericae, 6.
19 W.H.C.
Frend, The Rise of Christianity. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1984.
p.237.
20 Shotwell,
49-64.
21 Shotwell,
63-64.
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