Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr lived and wrote in the middle second century just after the bar Khokba revolt around 135 CE. It is interesting that Justin never mentioned Paul by name, but he did teach many things nearly identical to Paul's teachings. It is our theory that the letters of Paul were simply a compilation of Christian Greek philosophy compiled from sayings from people like Justin Martyr. Here is an example. 

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Justin said in Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 92 (XCII) For Abraham was declared by God to be righteous, not on account of circumcision, but on account of faith. For before he was circumcised the following statement was made regarding him: 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.' And we, therefore, in the uncircumcision of our flesh, believing God through Christ, and having that circumcision which is of advantage to us who have acquired it--namely, that of the heart--we hope to appear righteous before and well-pleasing to God: since already we have received His testimony through the words of the prophets.)

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Romans 4:1-3, What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? 2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God. 3. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

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Other examples are: 

Romans 2:28-29 compared to Dialogue 41, Dialogue  92, and Dialogue 113. 

Romans 4:3 compared to Dialogue 92

Romans 9:7 compared to Dialogue 25, Dialogue 45, and Dialogue 140

Romans 10:16-18 compared to Dialogue 42

Galatians 3:6-7 compared to Dialogue 119

1 Corinthians 15:24 compared to Dialogue 111

Colossians 1:15 compared to Dialogue 85

Colossians 1:17 compared to Dialogue 100 

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Justin Martyr's FIRST Apology

As I read through Justin Martyr's "First Apology," I will share my thoughts and interesting finds. There are 67 chapters, and I decided to start putting my thoughts on this page after reading Chapter 39. I am absolutely shocked that some guy named Justin would be allowed to write a letter to the Roman Emperor, rebuking the Emperor for persecuting Christians unjustly. Justin is supposedly writing to Caesar Antoninus Pius who reigned from 138-161 CE. It is highly unlikely that a Caesar would give any heed to someone he was persecuting, when the persecuted is rebuking Caesar. On top of that, for Justin's letter to be preserved for future generations is also highly unlikely. And one more thing, if Caesar had to sit and listen to this Christian defense for hours and hours due to its length, if he didn't hate the Christians before, surely he would after. Logic will not allow Justin's aplogy to be what it claims to be. It would be like me writing a letter to President Joe Biden about how his policies make my life miserable, then Joe Biden deciding to preserve my letter for future generations. If a leader is rebuked by a commoner, the commoner's letter should not become more famous than the Emperor he is writing to. Justin Martyr is more famous than Caesar Antoninus Pius. I suppose the hard core Christians would attribute that to a miracle from God, but I attribute it to Christian propaganda from the Roman Empire. 

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I have taken several notes prior to Chapter 39 and I may go back and add them, but this morning, I decided to make the following point from Chapter 39 when I read it. Justin quotes Isaiah 2:4 about how God was going to judge the nations from Jerusalem and God would turn their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and that there would be no more war. Justin says this was fulfilled when twelve men (presumably the Apostles), who were illiterate and poor speakers went out into all the world to proclaim the Christian message. Then we who formerly used to murder, not only stopped murdering, but also we stopped lying and willingly died confessing Christ. Now any logical person would understand Isaiah 2:4 to be a reference to true peace on earth and that would certainly be a great testimony for God if the Bible predicted world peace and then it happened, but Justin proclaims that it was fulfilled simply because some murderers converted to Christianity and stopped murdering and lying. This is obviously just a ridiculous attempt to reinterpret something to fit your narrative and it requires no evidence to support it. This is the dishonesty of Christianity from its very origins. 

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Chapter 41 has an interesting and overt lie. Justin quotes Psalm 96:1-10 as a prediction of the crucifixion of Jesus. I couldn't wait to see how he would explain this one. When he gets to verse 10, Justin says "the Lord has reigned from the tree," but the text actually says Yahweh reigns. The text says nothing about a tree (or Jesus or a crucifixion). Justin just added the tree business so he could connect it to the crucifixion. This is the dishonesty of Christianity from its very origins. 

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Chapter 43 is the Christian philosophy of "Free Will." Justin doesn't quote any scripture, he just says people must be responsible for their own choices, otherwise good people wouldn't deserve their rewards and bad people wouldn't deserve their punishments. 

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Chapter 54 is interesting. Justin makes the claim that all the Greek gods were created in response to the Hebrew Scriptures. Justin mentions the sons of Jupiter (Bacchus/Dionysis, Bellerophon/Perseus, and Asclepius) and says they were all created in response to Hebrew Scriptures, but yet he fails to even entertain the possibility that Jesus was created in the exact same way. I don't see how the Greek gods could have been created in response to Hebrew Scriptures, but I see exactly how Jesus was most likely created from literary interpretation and fiction. We certainly have evidence of the sons of Zeus BEFORE Jesus. 

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I need to comment on Chapter 60 here. Justin says Moses was made the bronze serpent on the image of a cross, but Numbers 21:8-9 just call it a pole (not a cross). Justin even says Plato misunderstood that Moses was really holding a cross with a bronze serpent instead of a pole with a bronze serpent. Sounds like Justin is just interjecting his Christian symbols where they don't belong. Why be dishonest?

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Chapter 63 is interesting. Justin clearly says that Jesus was the begotten logos of God and that he was literally the son of God and an angel or apostle of God. Justin expressly rebukes anyone who says that Jesus is the father, but he also says that Jesus was also God, but not God. It seems to me Justin is adamant that Jesus was not the one true God, but that he was sent by the one true God and Jesus was begotten, but the Father God is unbegotten. This is an early attempt to describe two God's with the rule that there is not two Gods.

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Chapter 66 Justin talks about the Eucharist, or the bread and wine ritual. He says the bread IS the body of Jesus and the wine IS the blood of Jesus. Then he ridiculously accuses the Mithra cult of stealing this ritual from Christians, yet Mithra had the custom first, which means Christianity stole it from Mithra. Justin is just lying about which one came first, because he is pushing Christianity. I am certain that a Caesar would be well aware that the Mithra cult existed prior to Christianity.

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Chapter 68 is the conclusion and it is interesting. In the first paragraph, Justin threatens Caesar Pius with eternal torture in Hell fire if he doesn't stop persecuting Christians. Then Justin provides a letter Caesar Pius' father Caesar Hadrian where he said if anyone persecutes Christians unjustly, then you shall punish them more severely. Then Justin includes another letter from Marcus Aurelius, who would become Caesar after Pius, who tells a story how Christians miraculously saved him and his army from certain death in Germany, and that if anyone persecutes Christians, they should be burned alive. WOW! It sounds like the Romans were killing the enemies of Christians to me. This concludes Justin's first apology. 

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Justin Martyr's SECOND Apology

Justin's second apology is shorter with only 15 chapters and it is addressed to the Roman Senate instead of to Caesar. Again, I wonder how a Christian had so much influence with the Roman Senate and Caesar. That is suspicious to say the least. If you haven't read it, I recommend you read it, because it is a decent summary of his doctrines. I wasn't surprised by anything in the second apology after reading the longer first apology. It was even consistent in my mind that it could have been written by the same author. 

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Chapter 6 caught my eye when Justin said, "for numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men." The claim that demons possess men is equivalent to the claim that Spiderman can shoot webs out of his wrists and that Superman can catch a bullet in his teeth. All of them are just ridiculous supernatural claims that have never been seen in real life.  And if Christians had supernatural powers to cast out demons and to heal people, why couldn't Justin just use his super powers as a true Christian to save Christians from this supposed persecution? I know why, its because Christians didn't have super powers, like Justin claims they did. 

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Chapter 9 also caught my eye. Justin is giving  a rebuttal to those who say Christians just threaten hell so they can control people through fear, rather than Christians compelling people to convert to Christianity just because "life is good and pleasant" as a Christian. LOL! How is life so good as a Christian if he is writing all this to prevent Christians from being killed for no reason? Do you see the contradiction? 

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Please share your thoughts with me on Justin in the comment section below.