Editing Justin Martyr (section)

==Role within the Church==
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[[Flacius]] discovered "blemishes" in Justin's theology, which he attributed to the influence of pagan philosophers; and in modern times [[Johann Salomo Semler|Semler]] and S.G. Lange have made him out a thorough Hellene, while Semisch and Otto defend him from this charge.

In opposition to the school of [[Ferdinand Christian Baur]], who considered him a Jewish Christian, [[Albrecht Ritschl]] has argued that it was precisely because he was a Gentile Christian that he did not fully understand the [[Old Testament]] foundation of Paul's teaching, and explained in this way the modified character of his Paulinism and his legal mode of thought.

Engelhardt has attempted to extend this line of treatment to Justin's entire theology, and to show that his conceptions of God, of free will and righteousness, of redemption, grace, and merit prove the influence of the cultivated Greek pagan world of the 2nd century, dominated by the Platonic and Stoic philosophy. But he admits that Justin is a Christian in his unquestioning adherence to the Church and its faith, his unqualified recognition of the Old Testament, and his faith in Christ as the Son of God the Creator, made manifest in the flesh, crucified, and risen, through which belief he succeeds in getting away from the dualism of both pagan and Gnostic philosophy.

Justin was confident that his teaching was that of the Church at large. He knows of a division among the orthodox only on the question of the [[millennialism|millennium]] and on the attitude toward the milder Jewish Christianity, which he personally is willing to tolerate as long as its professors in their turn do not interfere with the liberty of the Gentile converts; his [[millenarianism]] seems to have no connection with [[Judaism]], but he believes firmly in a millennium, and generally in the Christian [[eschatology]].

Opposition to Judaism was common among church leaders in his day; however, Justin Martyr was hostile towards Jewry and regarded Jews as an accursed people. His anti-Judaic polemics have been cited as an origin of Christian antisemitism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Early_Church.html|title=The Early Church and the Beginnings of Anti-Semitism}}</ref> However his views elaborated in the ''[[Dialogue with Trypho]]'' were tame compared to those of [[John Chrysostom]] and others.<ref>Philippe Bobichon, [https://www.academia.edu/7280008/JUSTIN_MARTYR_Dialogue_avec_Tryphon_Dialogue_with_Trypho_%C3%A9dition_critique_VOLUME_I_Introduction_Texte_grec_Traduction_Coll_Paradosis_%C3%A9ditions_universitaires_de_Fribourg_Suisse_no_47_1_2003_563_pages ''Dialogue avec Tryphon, édition critique. Vol. I: Introduction, Texte grec, Traduction''], Fribourg, 2003, Introduction, pp. 73-108.</ref>