01 — Foundations
The making of a Christian philosopher: Justin’s birth at Flavia Neapolis in Samaria of pagan parents, his restless journey through the Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and Platonist schools in search of the knowledge of God, and the seaside encounter with an old man that turned him from Plato to the prophets and to Christ — “the only sure and worthy philosophy.”
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Justin tells the story of his own conversion in the opening chapters of the Dialogue with Trypho — a rare thing among the Fathers, an autobiography of the mind. He was born in the early second century in Samaria, a pagan by birth and a philosopher by vocation, and he passed through one school after another before a chance conversation by the sea undid his confidence in Greek wisdom and pointed him to the Hebrew prophets who had spoken of Christ. These two files treat the quest and its resolution: the road to philosophy, and the conversion that made philosophy Christian.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Neapolis and the Philosophic Quest | Birth at Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) in Samaria of pagan parents; the journey through the Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and Platonist schools, and what Justin sought in each. |
| The Conversion | The old man on the seashore; the failure of Platonism to deliver the vision of God; the discovery of the prophets and “the only sure and worthy philosophy.” |
See Also
- Philosophy as the True Faith — what Justin made of philosophy after his conversion
- The Debate with Trypho — the work that frames the conversion narrative
- The Logos Spermatikos — the theology that made sense of his philosophic past
- The Church Fathers — Justin among the apologists
References
- Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 1–8. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1; and trans. Thomas B. Falls, rev. Halton, Dialogue with Trypho (FOTC selections; CUA Press, 2003).
- Barnard, L. W. Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
- Minns, Denis, and Paul Parvis. Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.