Justin+Martyr


 * ~ c.100-165AD ||
 * [[image:Justin_Martyr.jpg width="257" height="317"]] || Justin Martyr was born in the Roman colony of Flavia Neapolis. His parents were pagans and so he sought to find the meaning of life in the philosophies of his day. The Stoics were not concerned whether God cared for man or not. The Peripatetics, who taught Aristotelian philosophy, were more interested in collecting their fees than in teaching truth. The Pythagoreans required intensive study of music, arithmetic, and geometry. Finding nothing in these philosophies, Justin became a Platonist, admiring Socrates' and Plato's notions of the invisible world.

Around the year AD 130, Justin met an old man and his life was transformed. "A fire was suddenly kindled in my soul. I fell in love with the prophets and these men who had loved Christ; I reflected on all their words and found that this philosophy alone was true and profitable. That is how and why I became a philosopher. And I wish that everyone felt the same way that I do." ||
 * Justin continued as a teacher of philosophy, but he now explained Christianity as the true philosophy. He believed that all truth was God's truth. Justin taught that any truth in the Greek or pagan philosophies was the Word or Logos reaching out to sinful humanity.

He later moved to Rome where he founded a Christian school and wrote two apologies. Justin's First Apology, addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, was published in AD 155 and attempted to explain the faith. Justin's Second Apology was written soon after Marcus Aurelius became emperor in AD 161. In these writings, Justin tried to show that the Christian faith alone was truly rational.

In the year AD 165, Justin and his disciples were arrested for their faith. When the prefect threatened them with death, Justin said, "If we are punished for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope to be saved." They were taken out and beheaded. Since he gave his life for the "true philosophy" Justin has been surnamed Martyr. || Resources: [] http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/justin-martyr-1st-christian-philosopher-11629596.html http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10501.html
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