Justin Martyr
- Lived
- c. 100–c. 165
- Era
- The fathers
- Where
- Rome
- Tradition
- The apostolic communities
Arguing for Christianity in the terms of philosophy
A philosopher who kept the philosopher's cloak after his conversion and opened a school at Rome, where he wrote two Apologies addressed to the emperor and a Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew. He was denounced, tried and beheaded.
Why it matters
He was the first to argue the faith on ground his opponents accepted rather than to appeal only to scripture, holding that the Word who became flesh had sown seeds of truth in Socrates and the philosophers too. His description of a Sunday gathering — readings, a sermon, prayers, bread and wine, a collection for the needy — is the earliest detailed account of Christian worship that survives.
In the record
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64–313 AD Persecution
Imperial persecutions
Denounced, tried and beheaded at Rome
All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.