Lecture 12: The Beginnings of Christian Philosophy
Justin Martyr
• Both the symbolic and the real birth of Christian philosophy in the
proper sense are represented by Justin Martyr (c. 100–165).• Born as a pagan in Samaria, Justin passed through a series of
philosophical schools, seeking the perfect one. He thought he found
it in Platonism but then was converted to Christianity.• In Antioch, he met and engaged in a lengthy controversy with a
Jew named Trypho shortly after the final devastation of Jerusalem
following the Bar Kochba revolt (135 C.E.). He later opened a
Christian school in Rome, where Tatian (the apologist and leader of
the Encratites) was one of his students.• Denounced as a Christian by the Cynic philosopher Crescens, Justin
refused to offer sacrifice to the gods and was beheaded.• Justin’s works reveal a lively intellectual engagement with the
larger world.
o The Dialogue with Trypho reports the last sustained debate
between a Christian and Jew concerning their respective claims
that is carried out with at least the appearance of civility and
equality. The tone is that of competing philosophers, as Trypho
and Justin debate whether Jesus fulfilled messianic prophecies
and which version of Scripture (the Hebrew or the Greek)
was better.o In his First Apology, Justin defends Christians against the
charges made against them but goes further in a sweeping
assessment of pagan religion (negative) and pagan philosophy
(positive), especially Platonism, representing Christianity as
the endpoint of the human quest for wisdom.Clement of Alexandria
• Clement of Alexandria (150–c. 215) took significant steps beyond
Justin in establishing a genuinely philosophical form of Christianity.