Who Was Justin Martyr?

Justin Martyr lived from around AD 100-165.  He was born in Palestine to Greek parents.  Justin studied and taught Greek philosophy.  He eventually converted to Christianity after being impressed by Christians who were willing to die for their faith.  

Justin then became a Christian apologist. An apologist is one who defends the Christian faith.  His major works included:  "First Apology", "Second Apology", and "Dialogue With Trypho".  Trypho was a Jew whom Justin sought to convince that Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism.  Justin defended Christianity as a superior philosophy to Greek philosophy.  Greeks saw Christianity as unreasonable and foolish.  Justin presented Christianity as reasonable and intellectual.  Justin Martyr also made a defense of Christians to the Roman authorities.  Rome saw Christians as a threat because they would not worship the emperor or the Roman gods.  Justin made the case that the high morality and virtue of the Christians made them excellent citizens.  

It does seem that Justin depended too much on philosophy and elevated Plato too highly in his work.  But he did also use the Scriptures when making his defenses.  Justin did much good work as an early Christian apologist.   In AD 165 while teaching at Rome, Justin was executed for teaching an illegal religion and refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods.  This is how he became known as Justin Martyr.