In the middle of the second century, there came into the young Christian community a seeker for the truth, whose wide interests, noble spirit, and able mind greatly enriched it.

Justin was born into a Greek-speaking pagan family about the year 110 in Samaria, near Shechem. He was educated in Greek philosophy. Like Augustine after him, he was left restless by all this knowledge. During a walk along the beach at Ephesus, he began speaking with a stranger, who told him about Christ. “Straightway a flame was kindled in my soul,” he writes, “and a love of the prophets and those who are friends of Christ possessed me.” He became a Christian as a result of this encounter, and thereafter regarded Christianity as the only “safe and profitable philosophy.”

Around 150, Justin moved to Rome. As philosophers did in those days, he started a school—in this case, a school of Christian philosophy— and accepted students. He also wrote. Three of his works survive: a dialogue in Platonic style with a Jew named Trypho, and two apologies in defense of the Christian faith. Justin’s First and Second Apologies defend Christianity against the Greek charge of irrationality and against the Roman charge of disloyalty to the empire. These two works provide us with important insights into the developing theological ideas and liturgical practices of early Christianity.

While teaching in Rome, he engaged in a public debate with a philosopher of the Cynic school named Crescens, accusing him of ignorance and immorality. Angered, Crescens brought legal charges against him. Justin and six of his students were arrested and brought before the prefect Rusticus. As the custom was, Rusticus gave them an opportunity to renounce their faith. All steadfastly refused to do so. Justin and his students were all put to death around the year 167.