Justin Martyr and Classical Culture

Justin Martyr was a Christian apologetic author who eventually sacrificed his life for his faith. He experimented with several schools of philosophy before converting to Christianity. Justin’s philosophy offered a sort of marriage of Greco-Roman philosophy with Christian theology. He was considered an apologist because he defended Christianity by using philosophers commonly accepted by pagans, especially Plato, to support the ideals of Christianity. In Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho, he discusses how, under a …

…Justin used the Greco-Roman accepted philosophies of Plato to demonstrate that the ideals of Christianity are not obscure and lack rational. He uses Plato’s philosophy as example of a reputable mind that shares many of the same views as does Christianity. Justin’s manipulation of these philosophies makes it almost impossible for a pagan to adequately defend polytheism when a mind respected by their society also supports many of the Christian ideals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**