Editing Justin Martyr (section)

==Life==
[[File: Engraving of Justin Martyr - 2.jpg|thumb|right|A bearded Justin Martyr presenting an open book to a Roman emperor. Engraving by [[Jacques Callot]].]]

Justin Martyr was born {{circa|AD 90–100}},<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanegraaff | first=Wouter |year=2012 | title=Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture | publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521196215 |page = 20}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Walter H. |url= |title=After the Apostles: Christianity in the Second Century |date=1994 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-1986-3 |pages=158 |language=en |quote=Born around 90 C.e. to a Greek family settled in Flavia Neapolis (modern Nablus) , Justin knew little or no Hebrew and Aramaic and had only a passing acquaintance with Judaism.}}</ref> into a [[Greeks|Greek]] family,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Finegan |first=Jack |url= |title=The Archeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church |date=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6318-1 |pages=14 |language=en |quote=JUSTIN MARTYR (150) Born soon after 100 of a pagan Greek family at Flavia Neapolis (modern Nablus, cf. No. 62) in Palestine.}}</ref> at Flavia Neapolis (today [[Nablus]]) near the ancient biblical city of [[Shechem]], in [[Samaria]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Masalha |first=Nur |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1046449706 |title=Palestine : a four thousand year history |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-78699-272-7 |location=London |pages=85 |oclc=1046449706}}</ref> He knew little or no [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]], and had only a passing acquaintance with [[Judaism]].<ref name=":0" /> He was uncircumcised, and defined himself as a [[Gentile]].<ref>Craig D. Allert, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KLm9CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28  ''Revelation, Truth, Canon, and Interpretation: Studies in Justin Martyr's Dialogue With Trypho''] [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 2002). {{isbn|978-9-004-31329-3}} p.28.</ref> His grandfather, Bacchius, had a Greek name, while his father, Priscus, bore a Latin name,<ref>Allert, ibid. p.28</ref>  which has led to speculations that his ancestors may have settled in Neapolis soon after its establishment or that they were descended from a Roman "diplomatic" community that had been sent there.<ref>Reinhold Plummer,''Early Christian authors on Samaritans and Samaritanism,'' Mohr Siebeck, 2002 p.14.</ref>

In the opening of the ''Dialogue'',<ref name=Dialogue>{{cite book|title=Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho |url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-dialoguetrypho.html|author=Justin Martyr|chapter=2–8}}</ref> Justin describes his early education, stating that his initial studies left him unsatisfied due to their failure to provide a belief system that would afford theological and metaphysical inspiration to their young pupil. He says he tried first the school of a [[stoicism|Stoic]] philosopher, who was unable to explain God's being to him. He then attended a [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]] philosopher but was put off because the philosopher was too eager for his fee. Then he went to hear a [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] philosopher who demanded that he first learn music, astronomy, and geometry, which he did not wish to do. Subsequently, he adopted [[Platonism]] after encountering a Platonist thinker who had recently settled in his city.<ref name=Dialogue />{{efn|And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected forthwith to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy.<ref name=Dialogue />}}

Some time afterwards, he chanced upon an old man, possibly a Syrian Christian,<ref>Oskar Skarsaune, ''The proof from prophecy: a study in Justin Martyr's proof-text tradition:text-type, provenance, theological profile,'' Brill, 1987 p.246.</ref> in the vicinity of the seashore, who engaged him in a dialogue about God and spoke of the testimony of the prophets as being more reliable than the reasoning of philosophers.

{{Blockquote|There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by God, who spoke by the Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings are still extant, and he who has read them is very much helped in his knowledge of the beginning and end of things, and of those matters which the philosopher ought to know, provided he has believed them... But pray that, above all things, the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by all, but only by the man to whom God and His Christ have imparted wisdom.<ref name=Dialogue />}}

Moved by the aged man's argument, Justin renounced both his former religious faith and his philosophical background, choosing instead to re-dedicate his life to the service of the Divine. His newfound convictions were only bolstered by the ascetic lives of the early Christians and the heroic example of the [[martyr]]s, whose piety convinced him of the moral and spiritual superiority of Christian doctrine. As a result, he thenceforth decided that the only option for him was to travel throughout the land, spreading the knowledge of Christianity as the "true philosophy."  His conversion is commonly assumed to have taken place at Ephesus<ref name="J. Quasten, p.196-7">J. Quasten, ''Patrology, Volume 1: The Beginnings of Patristic Literature'' (Allen, TX: Christian Classics, 1983), p.197.</ref><ref>Plummer, 2002 p.15.</ref> though it may have occurred anywhere on the road from [[Syria Palestina]] to Rome.<ref>Skarsaune, ''The proof from prophecy,''pp.245–6 and notes 1 and 2.</ref>

[[File:Mosaic of St. Justin Martyr, Mount of the Beatitudes.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mosaic]] of the beheading of Justin Martyr]]
He then adopted the dress of a philosopher himself and traveled about teaching.  During the reign of [[Antoninus Pius]] (138–161), he arrived in [[Rome]] and started his own school. [[Tatian]] was one of his pupils.<ref>Marian Hillar, ''From Logos to Trinity: The Evolution of Religious Beliefs from Pythagoras to Tertullian'', page 139 (Cambridge University Press, 2012). {{ISBN|978-1-107-01330-8}}</ref> In the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]], after disputing with the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|cynic]] philosopher [[Crescens the Cynic|Crescens]], he was denounced by the latter to the authorities, according to Tatian (Address to the Greeks 19) and Eusebius (HE IV 16.7–8).  Justin was tried, together with six friends (two of them slaves educated by him; Euelpistus and Hierax), by the urban prefect [[Junius Rusticus]], and was [[Decapitation|beheaded]]. Though the precise year of his death is uncertain, it can reasonably be dated by the prefectural term of Rusticus (who governed from 162 to 168). The Christian "Martyrdom of Justin" reports a record of the trial.<ref name="J. Quasten, p.196-7"/>

{{Blockquote|The Prefect Rusticus says: Approach and sacrifice, all of you, to the gods. Justin says: No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety. The Prefect Rusticus says: If you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy. Justin replies: That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at the more terrible universal tribunal of Our Lord and Saviour. And all the martyrs said: Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols. The Prefect Rusticus read the sentence: Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws. The holy martyrs glorifying God betook themselves to the customary place, where they were beheaded and consummated their martyrdom confessing their Saviour.<ref name="Catholic"/>}}