09 — Legacy and Reception
Justin’s afterlife runs in two channels: the Church’s veneration of him as the first Christian philosopher and martyr, commemorated on June 1, whose Logos theology and apologetic method shaped Irenaeus, Clement, and the whole tradition that followed; and the modern academy’s study of him, from the great critical editions to the biographies and monographs of Barnard, Skarsaune, Minns and Parvis. These files treat the saint in the Church’s memory and the scholar’s, with the critics of his Logos theology weighed in both.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Justin stands at the head of a long line. As the first Christian thinker to engage the philosophy of the Greeks systematically and to claim it for Christ, he set the pattern for the Alexandrian tradition and for the whole Orthodox confidence that grace and truth are at work wherever the Logos has sown his seed. As a martyr who died confessing the faith he had argued, he is honored in the Church’s calendar and her iconography. And as one of the most important and most contested of the second-century Fathers, he has been the subject of intense modern scholarship, which has given us the critical texts, traced his sources, and debated the worth and orthodoxy of his Logos doctrine. These two files divide the ecclesial reception from the scholarly.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The First Christian Philosopher | Justin’s feast (June 1) and veneration; the influence of his Logos theology and apologetic method on Irenaeus, Clement, Origen, and the later Fathers; his place as the patron of the Christian engagement with philosophy; and the long debate over his orthodoxy and his Hellenism. |
| Modern Scholarship | The modern study of Justin: the manuscript and the editions; L. W. Barnard’s biography; Oskar Skarsaune on the proof from prophecy; Denis Minns and Paul Parvis, Justin, Philosopher and Martyr; Herbert Musurillo on the Acts; and the state of the questions. |
See Also
- The Logos Spermatikos — the doctrine whose reception this section traces
- The Word Made Flesh — the Christology and the road to Nicaea
- The Acts and Their Value — the martyr-record at the root of the cult
- The Church Fathers — Justin among the Fathers
References
- 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.
- Skarsaune, Oskar. The Proof from Prophecy. Leiden: Brill, 1987.
- Musurillo, Herbert. The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.