{"id":2272,"date":"2021-12-01T04:06:54","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T02:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2021-12-01T04:09:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T02:09:04","slug":"justin-martyr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/?p=2272","title":{"rendered":"Justin Martyr"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Justin Martyr was one of the most important Christian Apologists in the second century. Not only do his writings explain the Christian faith, but they also represent one of the leading attempts to bridge the gap between Christianity and philosophy or faith and reason.[1]<\/a>\u00a0Some scholars consider Justin\u2019s attempt to engage Christian faith in dialogue with philosophy to be his greatest contribution to Christian thought.[2]<\/a>\u00a0Actually, Justin did not put a clear distinction between theology and philosophy in his writings.[3]<\/a>\u00a0For instance, concerning creation, Justin connected Plato with Moses[4]<\/a>, and concerning eschatology, he showed some kind of coherence between the Christian views and the Stoic views[5]<\/a>. In the Apologies, Justin\u2019s methodology focuses on finding a shared language that can be used with Greeks, in addition it emphasizes on presenting the Gospel to win the readers to the Christian faith.<\/p>

On the other hand, Tatian who was a pupil of Justin Martyr in Rome presented himself in his Address to the Greeks<\/em>\u00a0as an opposed thinker of Greco-Roman culture in all its forms and aspects.[6]<\/a>\u00a0He condemned all kinds of philosophies and ancient civilizations.[7]<\/a>\u00a0His discourse attacked Greeks and severely criticized their major philosophers in a very strict way. Tatian in his discourse neither offered a kind of warm invitation to embrace Christianity nor repeatedly mentioned Christ like Justin did[8]<\/a>, but he explained his Christian doctrines and invited Greeks to examine them.[9]<\/a><\/p>

Actually, this difference between Justin and his disciple is rooted not only in the diversity of methodological approaches but also in the diversity of theological understanding concerning the logos<\/em>\u00a0and his relation to humanity. Justin illustrates that Christ is \u201cthe whole logos<\/strong>\u201d, while the \u201cseed of logos<\/strong>\u201d implanted in every race of men and women.[10]<\/a>\u00a0Christ is \u201cthe logos of whom every race of men and women were partakers. And they who lived with the logos are\u00a0Christians<\/strong>, even though they have been thought atheists\u201d.\u00a0[11]<\/a>\u00a0Consequently, Justin describes the Greek philosophers like Socrates and Heraclitus alongside the Old Testament\u2019s prophets as\u00a0Christians<\/strong>.[12]<\/a> According to this understanding, Justin can accept this kind of philosophical writings which stands in harmony with the Christian revelation. For him, it is inspired by the \u201cseeds of logos\u201d. Moreover, he explains that the Greek philosophers like Socrates, by their true reasoning, were trying to deliver<\/strong>\u00a0people from demons. So, the demons themselves attacked the philosophers by pushing people to kill them.[13]<\/a><\/p>

On the other hand, it seems that Tatian had a different point of view. To understand that point of view, one must start from Tatian\u2019s understanding of the first man. According to\u00a0Tatian\u2019s Address to the Greeks<\/em>, there are two different components in the first man: \u201cthe soul\u201d and the \u201cimage and likeness of God\u201d.[14]<\/a>\u00a0The soul is not in itself immortal, it is darkness and there is nothing luminous in it.\u00a0[15]<\/a> Man can share in immortality with God through the image and likeness of God. Tatian linked the image of God to the power of the Logos. When the first man committed sin, the power of the Logos was taken from him<\/strong>. The \u201cpowerful spirit\u201d was\u00a0separated from him<\/strong>[16]<\/a>, and only the dark soul became his portion. The Logos is the light of God, and he is the only one who can enlighten the dark soul by the powerful spirit. But the Spirit of God is not with all, those who \u201care rejecting the minister of the suffering God<\/strong>\u201d cannot attract to themselves the powerful spirit.[17]<\/a>\u00a0According to Tatian\u2019s understanding, anyone who does not accept the\u00a0minister of the suffering God<\/strong>\u00a0cannot be considered\u00a0a Christian<\/strong>. In other words, no one of the Greeks, ancient or contemporary, can be considered Christian\u00a0unless he accepts the minister of the suffering God<\/strong>. Consequently, Tatian did not accept any kind of Greek literature because, according to his understanding, it is inspired by darkness.<\/p>

Briefly, it can be concluded that the idea of the \u201cseeds of logos\u201d, according to Justin, enabled him to accept the Greek philosophers\u00a0who seek the truth<\/strong>, while the absence of this idea in Tatian\u2019s thought hindered him from doing so.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/a>[1]<\/a>\u00a0Henry Chadwick, \u201cJustin Martyr\u2019s Defense of Christianity,\u201d\u00a0Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library<\/em>\u00a047 (1964\/65), 275.
<\/a>[2]<\/a>\u00a0David Rankin,\u00a0From Clement to Origen the Social and Historical Context of the Church Fathers<\/em>\u00a0(Aldershot, England: Ashgate Pub, 2006), 102.
<\/a>[3]<\/a>\u00a0Justin and Leslie William Barnard,\u00a0The First and Second Apologies<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Paulist Press, 1997), 12.
<\/a>[4]<\/a>\u00a0The First Apology<\/em>: 59 in Leslie William Barnard, 64.
<\/a>[5]<\/a>\u00a0The First Apology<\/em>: 20 in Leslie William Barnard, 37.
<\/a>[6]<\/a>\u00a0David Rankin, 104.
<\/a>[7]<\/a>\u00a0Tatian\u2019s Address to the Greeks<\/em>, II, III, accessed March 12, 2014, http:\/\/www.earlychristianwritings.com\/text\/tatian-address.html.
<\/a>[8]<\/a>\u00a0Gerald F. Hawthorne, \u201cTatian and His Discourse to the Greeks,\u201d\u00a0Harvard Theological Review\u00a0<\/em>57, no. 3 (1964), 161.
<\/a>[9]<\/a>\u00a0Tatian\u2019s Address to the Greeks<\/em>, XLII.
<\/a>[10]<\/a>\u00a0The Second Apology<\/em>: 8 in Leslie William Barnard, 79.
<\/a>[11]<\/a>\u00a0The First Apology<\/em>: 46 in Leslie William Barnard, 55.
<\/a>[12]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid.
<\/a>[13]<\/a>\u00a0The First Apology<\/em>: 5 in Leslie William Barnard, 26.
<\/a>[14]<\/a>\u00a0Tatian\u2019s Address to the Greeks<\/em>, XII.
<\/a>[15]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid, Xlll.
<\/a>[16]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid, Vll.
<\/a>[17]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid, Xlll.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Martyr was one of the most important Christian Apologists in the second century. Not only do his writings explain the Christian faith, but they also represent one of the leading attempts to bridge the gap between Christianity and philosophy or faith and reason.[1]\u00a0Some scholars consider Justin\u2019s attempt to engage Christian faith in dialogue with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[27,21,15],"class_list":["post-2272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-thought-nuggets","category-theological-studies","tag-christian-thought-nuggets","tag-church-fathers","tag-theological-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2272"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2283,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions\/2283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavenuponearth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}