Justin Martyr

Justin was born about AD 100 in Flavia Neapolis, the Roman city built near ancient Shechem in Samaria, to pagan parents. He studied under teachers of several philosophical schools. In his Dialogue with Trypho he tells how he came to Christianity: a conversation with an old man, who pointed him to the prophets and to Christ.

He remained a philosopher, and taught as a Christian in Rome. Three works are accepted as his: the First Apology, addressed to the emperor Antoninus Pius about AD 155; the Second Apology; and the Dialogue with Trypho, a debate with a Jewish man over the prophets and Christ. Other writings later attached to his name are of doubtful authorship.

In the First Apology he answers the charges of atheism and immorality brought against Christians, and describes their worship. It is the earliest detailed account that survives: baptism, the gathering on Sunday, the reading of “the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets,” a sermon, prayers, bread and wine, and a collection for orphans, widows and the poor. He also argues that the Word who became Jesus Christ had already been partly at work among the wise before him.

He is remembered as having been condemned and beheaded in Rome about AD 165, under Marcus Aurelius, with several companions. An early account of their trial, the Martyrdom of Justin and his Companions, records their questioning by the prefect Rusticus. From then on he is called Justin Martyr.