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Getting to know ...
Our Patron, St. Justin, Martyr (Feast Day - June 1)
St. Justin, Philosopher
and Martyr, was born of pagan parents at Flavia Neapolis in Samaria at the
beginning of the second century. Following his conversion to the
faith, he wrote in defense of religion. We have today only two of his
writings, The "APOLOGY" and the
"DIALOG WITH TRYPHO", but
these writings give us a wealth of information on his life and work. In
fact, the Liturgy as we celebrate it today, has its foundational form in the
teachings of St. Justin. From the writings of St. Justin we know how
the Mass in the early church was celebrated, its rites, and its sacred
moments. His writing was done in reply to the accusations made against
the Christians. He explained to his accusers exactly how the
Christian banquet went - the what, the why, and the how.
In his writings, Justin
points out that the Eucharist is the rite that completes the process of
Christian initiation, for after being baptized, the new Christian comes to
the banquet. They gathered "on the day of the sun" (our Sunday) to
celebrate the banquet of the Lord. For the early Christians, the sun
now symbolized Jesus, who in His resurrection had become a blazing light.
When the Christians left
their homes and gathered together, they first listened to "the readings of
the recollections of the Apostles and of the writings of the prophets."
This is our Liturgy of the Word. ":When the reader has
finished, the presider gives a talk, admonishing those present and
encouraging them to imitate the good examples they have just heard about."
This is our homily. Justin goes on to write, "Then we all stand
up and pray ... for ourselves, for the new Christians, and for all others,
wherever they may be. We pray that all who have come to know the truth may do
good in their lives, observe the precepts, and thus gain eternal salvation."
In this rite it is easy to recognize our prayer of the faithful.
In the early Church, the
greeting of peace, which is symbolic of forgiveness, was made before
the offering of the gifts in observation of Jesus' admonition, "If you are
offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go; first be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
(Mt. 5:23-24)
Today in our liturgy we observe this rite immediately before receiving
the precious Body and Blood of Christ.
The Eucharistic Prayer of
the Mass (and today there are four or five variations) all follow the same
basic format: prayers of humble thanksgiving made in the name of the
community, the words of Consecration, prayers for the living and the dead,
prayers for unity and expression of our own faith, the
Amen,
which is our response to all the words and actions that have just been
expressed.
Regarding Communion,
Justin did more than describe the rite; he explained what it meant.
"We call this food the Eucharist. We do not take it as ordinary
food and drink. According to our doctrine, this nourishment, consecrated
with a prayer of thanksgiving composed of Christ's words,
is the
Flesh and Blood of Jesus."
While the substance of the
Liturgy of the Eucharist remains the same in all of the prayers, it is the
words of the second Eucharistic prayer that we attribute to St. Justin.
We of St. Justin, Martyr
Parish have special reason to be grateful today to our patron saint for his
gift of this Sacred Act of Praise and Thanksgiving as we know it
today.
St. Justin and his
companions maintained their belief in the doctrines of the Church,
specifically Christ's presence in the Eucharist, and refused to sacrifice to
pagan idols. For this, they were scourged and were led away to suffer
the capital punishment. They were beheaded, and so fulfilled their witness
of martyrdom in confessing their faith in their Savior.
[The following is a reprint
of a paper prepared by Helen Wernlund, November 8, 1997.]
What is known about Justin
Martyr, one of the earliest Christian apologists, comes to us today mostly
from his own writings. It is known that Justin taught in Rome when
Antoninus Pius was emperor (138-161 A.D.) and that he was martyred under
Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.) Epiphanius reports that Justin died
during Hadrian's reign (117-138 A.D.) at the age of 30, but today we know
this to be incorrect. Barnard notes that "Justin's writings are full
of vigor and do not suggest that he was of an advanced age at the time of
his death." {1}
The city of Flavia
Neapolis, near the ruins of Shehem in Palestine, was Justin's birthplace.
This makes him a Samaritan by birth. His writings, however, give no
indication that he had a knowledge of Samaritan customs or religion.
It appears that he knew nothing about Moses and the prophets, nor the God of
the Hebrews, in his early years.
Justin classifies himself
with the Gentiles rather than with the Hebrew Christians. He writes
that he was brought up with Gentile customs, was uncircumcised and received
a Hellenistic education. He later became quite familiar with Jewish
thought and customs, as evidenced in his writings. His grandfather's
name, Bacchius, is Greek. He and his father, Priscus, had Latin names.
This suggests that Justin's ancestors may have settled as colonists in
Flavia Neapolis. Although the details of Justin's early life are
sketchy, more is known about his later years. Three of his writings have
come down to us today: the First Apology, addressed to
the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.) and his two adopted sons; the
Second Aplolgy, addressed to the Roman Senate; and his Dialogue
with Trypho, a Jew. There are also numerous pseudonymous writings
attributed to Justin.
Even as a young man,
Justin had a great interest in religion and philosophy. He wanted to
find Truth and, thereby, Salvation, Wisdom, and God, and undertook courses
of study in several philosophical schools during his search. His first
teacher was a Stoic who himself did not believe in God. Justin
determined it would be unproductive to search for God in the company of this
man, so he next went to a Peripatetic who was more concerned about his fee
than Justin's quest for truth. Justin left him for a Pythagorean
teacher, who insisted that Justin first know his music, harmony, astronomy,
and geometry in order to prepare his soul to understand invisible realities.
Since he didn't already possess the body of knowledge the teacher required,
and didn't want to spend all the time needed to acquire it, Justin and the
Pythagorean parted ways.
His final teacher was a
Platonist, and Justin was immediately taken with the idea that immaterial
things existed. He became so enthusiastic about this that he expected
he would soon have a vision of God. Around this time, Justin was
converted to Christianity. He writes about going to the seashore to
meditate and meeting an old man there with whom he engages in a
philosophical dispute. The old man tells Justin about the Hebrew
prophets, whose prophecies are fulfilled in Christianity. Justin finds
this religion a way of melding the best of Platonist thinking with a new
truth and a way to salvation.
Justin found his truth
after a long search, and even after his conversion and baptism (about 132
A.D.) he continued to call himself a philosopher and to wear the identifying
cloak. He opened schools of Christian teaching when he resided in Rome
and also in Ephesus. His last visit to Rome was at the time of Marcus
Aurelius' persecutions of Christians. Having been betrayed by a Cynic
philosopher named Crescens, whom he had bested in an argument, Justin was
arrested and brought before the prefect Rusticus, who, after hearing
Justin's statement of faith and his refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods,
had him scourged and beheaded, along with Chariton, Charito, Paeon, and
Liberanus. He acquired the title of Martyr.
Justin is not considered a
theological giant. He lacked cultural depth, and in his Apologies he
"wavered back and forth, relying now on citation of authorities and now on
logical argument." {2} However, he was one of the first Christians to
deal with the questions posed by the sophisticated and worldly Hellenists.
It was Justin's task to interpret the biblical message in terms that
Platonists could understand.
Most Christians of that
time weren't bothering to look for truth outside their own theology, but
Justin developed the concept of "illumination or inspiration by the
pre-existent Logos." {3} In this view, some Hellenistic
philosophers could be called "Christian" even before Jesus' advent, because
they grasped part of truth. However, because the whole Logos indwells
Jesus bodily, Christians were assured of possessing the whole truth.
Justin and other
apologists of his time were in a dilemma over the position of Jesus in the
worship of the early Church. They had to find a way to preserve the
Hebrew and scriptural belief in one God, yet also recognize Jesus as God.
Eventually the doctrine of the Trinity would solve that problem, but it
wasn't Justin's solution. His contribution was to combine the
Platonist view of God as "unknowable and transcendent, the unnamed first
cause, nameless and unutterable" {4} with the biblical view of God as a
living creator and compassionate Father who approaches his people as Jesus
Christ.
Justin emphasized the
unity of God and Logos even before the creation. In later thought the
Logos became eternal, but to Justin the Logos was "a product of the Father's
will from the beginning, thus subordinate to the Father in person and
function." {5} Justin did not clearly differentiate the work of the
Holy Spirit from the Logos, but he did seem to believe in a personal Holy
Spirit whose main function was prophetic inspiration.
Most seekers of those
early years were, like Justin, looking for salvation and he found this in
Christianity. He emphasized the Platonist notion of human freedom,
believing that a spirit, part of the Logos, lived in every human being.
Therefore, each person has the power of moral choice. People allowed
demons to lead them into sin, but no one inherits sin or guilt.
Christianity had the remedy for this in the life and teaching of Jesus, the
Incarnate Logos, who was both divine and fully human. If one lived by
his teaching, one would avoid sin. Also, Christ had triumphed, through
his death and resurrection, over the demons of the world, which were thought
to be everywhere, numerous and enormously powerful.
Baptism and Eucharist had
a great significance for Justin. He saw baptism as a new birth brought
forth by the Holy Spirit, and called it "illumination" by the Logos.
This empowers the baptized person to live a truly moral life. About
the Eucharist, he posited the union of the divine Logos with the bread and
wine "in such a way that they become the body and blood of the incarnate
Jesus." {6} This food fortifies the one who receives it with the
ability to live a Christian life through the mind and power of the Logos.
Justin uses the word "change" to describe the effect of consecration on the
elements, but his understanding was not the same as the concept we know as
transubstantiation, which came later in the Church's development.
Justin believed in the
Second Coming of Christ but didn't seem concerned about it's delay. He
thought it showed God's patience with humanity, giving people time to come
to the truth. He believed that angels and humans would be judged
according to the way they used or abused their free will and that the wicked
would suffer in the fires of eternity.
Justin's First Apology
describes how the liturgy was beginning to take form, and it is interesting
to see how similar the ancient "work of the people" is to our worship today.
The Sunday meeting, which could be held anyplace that was convenient, began
with Scripture reading, followed by the sermon by a bishop or priest, then
the general prayer, the offertory prayer of thanksgiving by the presiding
person, consecration of the bread and wine, and communion.
The First Apology asked
for justice: that should not be punished for having the name of Christian
but only if their lives and conduct required punishment. He calls the
hatred of Christians the work of demons and goes on to refute the slanders
against them of atheism, immorality, and disloyalty. He strives to
show Christian thought as rational. He explains Christian theology and
the sacraments and appeals for "liberty of opinion". {7}
Justin's Second Apology
appears to have been fueled by his indignation at an outrage recently
perpetrated in which a "dissolute man" {8} who was angry with his wife for
calling him on his bad behavior, had her teacher charged with being a
Christian. The teacher, along with two others, was sentenced to death
simply for being a Christian. Justin discussed some popular objections
to Christians in this Apology. It is much shorter than the first.
Justin's longest work is
"The Dialogue with Trypho", the record of a debate between the two men.
In this work Justin tells the story of his conversion and Trypho defends the
torah as the true way to serve God. Part one deals with Mosaic law,
part two with the nature and significance of Jesus Christ, and part three
with the conversion of the Gentiles. This dialogue seems to have
lasted for two days and to have been a friendly discussion. Justin
appeals to Trypho and his friends to accept Jesus and His teachings, but the
outcome is not known.
Justin's concern is to
find ways in which he and his opponents can agree, and he willingly faces
questions which had not been asked before with courage and sincerity.
His is a "profoundly Christian mind." {9} Barnard further states that
"The Apostolic Fathers had dealt with the practical, day-to-day problems of
the Church; speculative thought and Christian philosophy begin with Justin."
References 1, 7, 8, 9:
Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought, by L.W. Barnard, Cambridge at the
University Press, 1967
References 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:
The Encyclopedia of Religion, Volume 8, Mircea Eliade, Editor in Chief,
Macmillan Publishing Company, New york
Also: Marcus
'Aurelius and His Times: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity,
Published for the Classics Club by Walter S. Block, Inc. Roslyn, New York,
1945
The Early Church, W.H.C.,
Frend, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991
Helen Wernlund, Nov. 8, 1997
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