Justin 			June 1
Martyr at Rome
Justin was essentially a straightforward person, who had the courage to hold to his convictions at the cost of his life. For the church he was a pioneer in its relationship with the world of Greek philosophy.
Justin was born to pagan parents in Samaria about 100 CE. He spent some years exploring various philosophical schools, looking for the truth about life, but found most teachers shallow and unconvincing. In Platonism, however, he found a basic framework of understanding. Then about 135 at Ephesus, he was introduced to Christianity and remarked, “This is the only really reliable and useful philosophy I have found.”
Fifteen years later Justin was teaching in Rome, and it is there that the three works for which he is remembered were published: The Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, his First Apology, addressed to the emperor Antoninus Pius, about 155, and his Second Apology, addressed to the Roman Senate, about 161. “Apology” here is used as a technical term for a spirited defence of something. The Dialogue, which is set in Ephesus, is a long work defending the church against Jewish accusations of distorting the Old Testament. Justin, in common with many Christians of the day, sees the Old Testament as foreshadowing the events of the New.
It is in the Apologies that we see more of Justin’s pioneer work. Most earlier defences of Christianity had relied on simple assertions of blameless lives and harmless beliefs. However, Justin makes connections with widespread Platonic and Stoic ideas about the universe as a whole, notably in the concept of the “Logos” (“word” or “reason”) that shapes the rational world, linking it with Christ as the Word of God. Most later theologians were to some extent Justin’s descendants. Justin argues that the state has nothing to fear from Christians. In his defence of the exemplary character of Christians and of their practices, Justin also gives us insights into early Christian worship in baptism and the eucharist.
Justin and others were denounced to the authorities, according to one source, by Crescens the Cynic philosopher. They refused to make the customary gesture of allegiance to the emperor by participating in the pagan religious rites. Justin was executed about 165, along with six other Christians.
For Liturgical Use
Justin came from Samaria, where he was born about 100 CE. He found the answer to his searchings for the meaning of life in Christianity, “the true philosophy”. He taught in Rome from about 150. He was one of the first Christians to link Christianity with Greek philosophical ideas. Justin’s writings also give us insights into worship in the early church. He was executed for his faith about 165.
Sentence
You Lord are a shield to cover me; you are my glory, and the lifter up of my head.	Psalm 3:3
Collects
Gracious and eternal God,
in his search for a true philosophy,
you called your servant Justin
to the wisdom of your Word
and to willingness to suffer for his faith;
grant us to grow in our knowledge of you,
and give us courage to bear witness to the truth;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Glory to you, Jesus, light of the world,
for Justin’s declaration when put to the test,
that no right-minded person
forsakes truth for falsehood;
help us, like him, to hold on to that which is true.
Psalms	16	119:129-136
Readings
2 Maccabees 7:1-6		First of the martyred brothers
1 Peter 4:12-19		Suffering as a Christian
John 12:44-50		The apologia of Jesus
Post Communion Sentence
Join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling.	2 Timothy 1:8,9