Justin, surnamed the Philosopiher, or, more generally, the Martyr, of whom Eusebius {Hist. Eccles. 1. iv, c. 11) says that he overshadowed all the great men who illu- minated the 2d century by the splendor of his name, was born towards the close of the apostolic age, that is, the beginning of the 2d century. He was the son of a v.ealthy Greek, Priscius, who had, in all probabil- ity, come to reside at Flavia Ncapolis (erected on the site of the ancient Sichem), in Samaria, with the Ro- man colony sent by Vespasian to the city that bore his name. But little is known of his personal history. From one of his works, the Dialogues with Tryphon (c. 2 sq.), we learn that he travelled much in his youth, and studied ardently the various systems of philosophy prev- alent in his day, searching after some knowledge which should satisfy the cravings of his soul. The myths and absurd worship of the heathen had failed to satisfy the youthful soul longing to know God and the relations of God to man, and in turn Stoic and Peripatetic, Pytha- gorean and Platonist, were examined to set his mind at rest upon the vital question. By the Stoic he was told that, in philosophical speculation, the subject which he seemed to consider the most important was only of sub- ordinate rank. A I'eripatetic, at the end of a few days, informed him that the most important thing for him to attend to was to afford the philosophic instructor security for his tuition. By the Pythagorean he was rejected outright, because he confessed himself ignorant of music, astronomy, and geometry, which that school considered a necessary introduction to the study of phi- losophy, and so he turned in despair to the Platonists, at this time in high repute in the place in which Justin resided. At last he seemed to have gained the haven of peace : the Platonic doctrine of ideas could not fall to inspire young Justin with the hope that he "should soon have the intuition of God," for is not this the aim of Platonic philosophy ? " Under the influence of this notion," he relates himself, " it occurred to me that I would withdraw to some solitary place, far from the tur-' moil of the world, and there, in perfect self-collection,
JUSTIN"
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give myself to my own contemplations. I chose a spot by the sea-side." Whether Justin still resided at this time at Flavia Neapolis— and in that case the qniet re- sort must have been the shores of the Dead Sea, per- haps the valley of the .Jordan, north of this sea (Otto), or on some unfrequented spot of Lake Genesareth— or whether, as seems more probable, he then resided at Ephesus, is a matter of dispute. In favor of Ephesus are Scliriickh, Tillemont, Hilgenfeld, Dorner, etc. But, be tlic name of the place Flavia Neapolis or Ephesus, it was in his resort by the shore of the resounding sea — attracted to it, no doubt, chiefly by the grandeur of the object he was seeking to solve, and the loveliness of the spot — tliat we find him one day, while \\Tapped up in thought, pacing up and down by the side of the sea, which moaned in melancholy miison with his reflections, accosted by a man of venerable aspect, sage aiid grave, and soon the two are engaged in earnest converse on the subject ever uppermost in j'omig Justin's mind. Somewhat enamored of the Platonic philosophy, he ar- gues in its favor with the appositely present senior, and contends that at some future day it will conduct him into tliat nearer acquaintance with God, or, in the Pla- tonists' term, afford him the " vision of divinity." But the meek old man, who is a Christian, contends that the goal which he is seeking to gain cannot be reached by any philosophical school or by unaided mmd even of the highest order ; the fallacy of Plato is proved in some two or three points of doctrine belonging to that system, and finally the doubting and indocile disciple is visited v.ith the curt and not gentle apostrophe, " You are a mere dealer in words, but no lover of action and truth ; your aim is not to be a practiser of good, but a clever disputant, a cmming sophist." Once more the inquiring youth is bafHed in his attempt to lay hold of the truth ; he is again convinced that even from the fore- most of heathen philosophers he cannot obtain the pearl for \vhich he is seeking so earnestly. But with this in- telligence there comes also the direction, " Search the Scriptures;" study the Hebrew prophets; men who, guided by the Spirit of God, saw and revealed the truth, and even foretold events future to their day ; read the last anel heroic words of the disciples of him who came to raise a fallen world, and to restore it to eternal and imperishable felicity. " Pray," ended the venerable Christian, " that the gates of light may be opened to thee, for none can perceive and comprehend these things except God and his Christ grant them understanding." Justin was impressed; he had often heard the Plato- nists calumniate the Christians, but he jiad always dis- credited the statements. He had frequently obser\-ed the tranquilUty and fortitude with which these follow- ers of Jesus encomitercd death and aU other evils wliich appear terrible to man, and he could never condemn as profligates those who could so patiently endure. He had long believed them innocent of the crimes imputed to these consistent martvTs. He was now prepared to think that they held the truth. He reflected on the words of the venerable stranger, and was convinced that they inculcated the '• only safe and useful philosophy." From this time (the exact date is doubtful; the Bol- landists place it in A.D. 119; it is generally believed, with Cave, Tillemont, Ceillier, and others, that it occur- red in A.D. 133) his personal history becomes obscmre, as he has but little to relate of himself hereafter, and as from other sources we cannot gather much on which we can depend. Certain it is that he at once enlisted in active service in behalf of the new cause. Retaining the garb of a philosopher, he ardently devoted him- self^ as is evinced by his works, to the propagation of Christianity bj' WTitmg and otherwise. Tillemont ar- gues, from the language of Justin {Apolog. Prima, c. 61, 65), that he was a priest, but this inference is not borne out by the passage, and, though approved by Maran, is rejected by Otto, Neander, and Semisch. That he vis- ited many places in order to diffuse the knowledge of the Christian religion is probable (comp. Cohortat, ad