"TRANSFORMING DARKNESS AND MATTER": ST. JUSTIN MARTYR AND CREATIO EX NIHILO (original) (raw)
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All Things to All People_Justin Martyr's Exegesis of the Old Testament
2 erected temples to Jupiter and Venus and expelled Jews from the city. 6 The Jews, feeling betrayed, took up polemics against the Christians. 7 The schism between Judaism and Christianity meant that Christians had potentially lost all claim to a historic religion, which in turn resulted in persecution from the Roman state. 8 Justin was a man of courage. He boldly stood against the Roman Senate in his Apologies, and he blazed a trail in reconciling the Old Testament Scriptures with the apostolic faith in Dialogue with Trypho. Despite the shared animosity between pagan, Christian, and Jew, Justin dared to engage his "enemies." In the Apologies, he dispelled popular myths about Christianity, and he communicated the tenets of the faith in Hellenized terms. In Dialogue with Trypho, Justin utilized rabbinic rules of interpretation in order to prove that the Scriptures testified about Christ. This paper contends that Justin Martyr applied Hellenistic thought and Jewish methods of interpretation to the Old Testament within the rubric of a Christo-centric exegesis in order to be all things to all men in service of the cause of Christ. For these reasons, Justin Martyr has garnered the attention of students and scholars, and also has merited the attention of this paper. JUSTIN IN CONTEXT AND IN DISTINCTION Justin lived and wrote at a time when many philosophies and religious systems laid claim to divine truth. The pantheons of the Greeks and Romans held sway over the general populous. Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic doctrines had taken root. The ancientness of Jewish monotheism garnered the toleration, if not respect, of the Greco-Roman world. The fledgling Christian church, though still in danger of persecution, had gained momentum; yet how could the Christian church continue to grow when the whole world was against her? 9 Justin's formulation of Christian doctrine and his interpretative methods must be understood against the backdrop of Hellenism, Judaism, and those Christian thinkers that labored with him. It is against this backdrop that one understands how Justin has synthesized Hellenistic thought, Judaism, and 6 Ivor
The Apologetic and Literary Value of the Acts of Justin
Phronema 34:1, 2019
The purpose of this article is to outline the consistent apologetic function and literary value of the acta describing the trial and execution of St Justin Martyr and his disciples in Rome (aspects which have largely been overlooked by scholarship hitherto). To this end, it will examine whether the most authentic recensions echo the apologist's understanding of the rapports between Christianity and pagan philosophy. Moreover, it will discuss the editors' articulation of Christian identity through their representation of Justin and his disciples, including the influence of the New Testament in this regard. It will also highlight the editors' censure of paganism via their negative depiction of Quintus Junius Rusticus (a descendant of a Stoic martyr, an influential philosopher himself, and the urban prefect who served as Justin's judge).
Justin Against Marcion: Defining the Christian Philosophpy
2017
In a period when Christianity was only beginning to form a definitive identity, Marcion played a remarkable and generative role. Andrew Hayes takes the measure of Marcion’s impact on second-century Christianity through a close examination of the topics and structure of Justin Martyr’s writings, especially Dialogue with Trypho, demonstrating that Justin repeatedly described Christianity in a contra-Marcionite fashion. Arguing that the early part of Dialogue is, in fact, a contra-Marcionite prelude to all the major themes in the rest of the piece, Hayes claims that the chief task Justin took for himself was to seize back from Marcion the terms of Christian self-definition. Marcion is thus far more important for Justin’s work than the sparse explicit mentions might suggest, and Hayes shows that these texts are far from anomalous: they reveal Justin’s deeper agenda of presenting Marcion as a demonic instrument. Students of the second century, of Marcion, and of Justin alike will find mu...
Vessela Traykova-Yoanina, 2021
The book proposes a new assessment of the issue of the archbishopric of Justiniana Prima, founded by Justinian I in Eastern Illyricum in the sixth century; and also of the place of this archbishopric in the early history of Christianity in South-East Europe. The aspects of the issue are examined in relation to 1) Justinian’s imperial policy, 2) the specific features of the local churches which Apostle Paul founded in Illyricum, and 3) the rivalry between them and the Churches of Rome and Constantinople for control over the dioceses of Illyricum. Consideration is given to Justinian’s possible motives in founding Justiniana Prima, thе archbishopric’s special character, and the reasons why it had a relatively short lifetime. The book then studies the presentation of the concept of Justiniana Prima in later centuries, and attempts to answer the questions: ‘Who are the true successors of Justiniana Prima?’ and also: ‘Is it possible that behind the apparent course of events there emerges a deeper spiritual subtext sending a message to future generations?’ Emphasis is placed on certain sources previously unavailable in Bulgarian translation. These shed light on Justinian’s personality, his actions, and his religious policy. The book also looks at the issue of early Christianity and at its roots in the millennial ‘culture of mysteries’. It also examines the essence of the conflict between early Christianity and the formalizing Churches of Rome and Constantinople with their Judeo-Christian background. There is an analysis of the reasons for the perversion of Christ’s Teaching, with some examples given of erroneous views that were substituted for the Savior’s own Teachings. The illustrations provide evidence for the specific features of churches lineally descended from the Apostle Paul and their kinship with the local ‘culture of mysteries’. An epilogue represents an attempt for a change in paradigm enabling the human individual and the human community to be placed in a larger context of many levels. The necessity of such a change is the outcome of the complexity of the problems raised in the text, which demand deeper levels of cognition.
The Angelic Spirit in Early Christianity: Justin, the Martyr and Philosopher*
In the conclusion of his article entitled "The Angelic Spirit in Early Judaism," John R. Levison invited the scholarly community to use his work as "a suitable foundation for discussion of the angelic spirit" in early Christianity. 1 A few years later, in his study of angelomorphic christology, Charles A. Gieschen highlighted the need for similar work in the field of early pneumatology. 2 The case for angelomorphic pneumatology has been argued at length with respect to the Book of Revelation, the Shepherd of Hermas, and Clement of Alexandria. 3 This essay contributes to the discussion by pursuing the occurrence of the "angelic spirit" in the writings of Justin Martyr. 4
Loftier Doctrine: The use of Scripture in Justin Martyr’S Second Apology
Perichoresis, 2014
Over the past century many scholars have questioned integrity and composition of Justin Martyr’s Second Apology. One frequent criticism is that Justin quotes from a variety of sources in Greco- Roman philosophy, but never once quotes scripture. As a result scholars assume that the Second Apology reveals Justin’s real indebtedness to philosophy that diverges from his broader theological and scriptural concerns expressed in his other works. This article challenges these notions by arguing that scripture is essential Justin’s Second Apology and that the lack of any extended quotations of scripture is no basis to disparage his theological perspective. Careful analysis of Justin’s Second Apology demonstrates that he regularly appeals to the authority of scripture and provides numerous echoes and allusions to scriptural passages. Furthermore, in terms of his theological framework, these echoes and allusions are actually more important than mere quotations. They demonstrate that Justin doe...