Justin Martyr (ca. 100 – ca. 165)
“You can kill us, but you can’t hurt us.” (First Apology, ca. 160).
Artist's imaginary representation of Justin Martyr
A young man is walking on a sandy beach near Ephesus in A.D. 132. Dressed as a Greek, he has an intelligent cast to his face. But there is something else in his expression, too—a restlessness, a longing. His name is Justin.
He is seeking God but has not found Him. As the next best thing, he has embraced the philosophy of Plato.
Another man, an old Christian, sees the philosopher on the beach and engages him in conversation. Justin listens courteously, for he admires these people of the cross because of their bravery under torture. The old man learns that Justin is a student of philosophy and a Platonist. He points out problems in Plato that Justin has never noticed before. For instance, according to Plato, bad men are punished by being reincarnated in lower animals. But if you are turned into a toad and, as a toad, don’t know you are being punished or why—what sense is that? The old man contrasts Plato with the Jewish prophets who foretold the coming of Christ.
The words go straight to the hole in Justin’s soul. Instantly a flame takes fire in him. On the spot he converts to the despised faith. He realizes that Christian teaching alone is safe and profitable for his soul.
Does his conversion mean that all his philosophical training is worthless? He decides not. Subjected to higher truth, there is still a role for pagan learning. The Gospel can stand up to the best philosophy of the Greek world, he sees, and he must be the one to demonstrate this. Subsequently, he adopts the robe of a philosopher and lectures on Christian philosophy. He does more: he addresses an appeal in behalf of Christians and in defense of Christianity to the most powerful man in the world, the Roman emperor himself.
This appeal is called an apology. In it he shows that Christians exceed the normal expectations of citizenship. Nonetheless, they will not compromise their faith. They will pay taxes willingly, they will pray for the emperor, but they will not allow anyone or anything to usurp Christ’s place. Tyranny and threats are powerless against Christian believers, he declares, because of the hope they have. “You can kill us, but you cannot hurt us.” His bold claim rests on his assurance that the death of the body is not the end of human existence. Resurrection is coming, and Justin boldly warns the emperor that he, like all other humans, will face the judge of all mankind.
Justin lives for over thirty years as a Christian philosopher until one day he is called to demonstrate the truth of his audacious words. Around A.D. 165 he is put on trial as a Christian and proves that his faith is more than mere intellectual argument or bravado when he stands firm on its truths and is beheaded, thereafter becoming known as “Justin Martyr.”
—Dan Graves
Dig a Little Deeper
- Aland, Kurt. Saints and Sinners; Men and Ideas in the Early Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.
- Barnard, Leslie W. Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought. London, 1967.
- Genest, Jeremiah. Justin Martyr.” (Accessed July, 2008)
- “Justin Martyr; Philosopher, Apologist and Martyr.” (Accessed July, 2008)
- “Justin Martyr, St.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
- Lebreton, Jules. “Justin Martyr, St.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
- Roberts, Alexander and James Donaldson, eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. New York, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899.
