Interview with Justin Marytr

Interview with St. Justin Martyr

 

Time: AD 165 – during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

Place: Rome; tried under the prefect Rusticus, a philosopher and teacher of Marcus Aurelius.

Charge: Bearing the name of Christian.

 

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Interviewer – Welcome back everyone.  You are listening to Meet the Martyrs with yours truly, Dr. Montgomery Montgomery III.  This is the show where we conduct live interviews with Christians who are condemned to death for their beliefs.  Today I am joined live by Justin.

Justin – Thank you doctor for having me on the show.

Interviewer – Justin, can you describe for our listeners today the predicament you are in right now.

Justin – Sure . . . although I wouldn’t call it a predicament so much as a blessing.  In just a few moments, I and six of my companions are scheduled to be executed by order of the prefect Rusticus, under charges brought against by Crescens, a so-called Cynic philosopher. 

Interviewer – What charges?

Justin – Well, if you want my own answer . . . for speaking the truth.  Not that this is a surprise; I have been predicting my death for some time now.  It is a pattern attested to throughout history that those who strive to live according to right reason are hated and often even killed.  Thus evil and unreasoning men killed the true philosophers; certain of the Stoics and in particular Socrates are perfect examples of this fact.  These philosophers were men who in their lifetimes attained glimpses of truth, and by their exhortations to others, which the truth they discovered demanded them to make, they brought the scorn of unthinking men upon their heads.   I knew it would only be a matter of time before they also would kill me and my companions.  Men are not executed for their beliefs – for as you know many varied and contradictory beliefs are tolerated within this empire – but men are persecuted for holding to the Truth.

Interviewer – It seems that a just sentence should only be made in response to some crime.  What crime are you being accused of?

Justin – That is just the point; this sentencing is completely unjust: not only in our case, but Christians all over the empire are being killed not because we are fornicators or adulterers or murders or thieves, indeed, not for any crime at all – in fact Christians are the most exemplary in avoiding these heinous acts.  It is only the name “Christian” which condemns us to be killed.

Interviewer – You say all this, and yet, don’t your accusers themselves claim to be philosophers?

Justin – They are merely pseudo-philosophers.  They do not truly seek wisdom, but rather are lovers of false opinion.  These vile and evil men are willing to condemn others to death for simply bearing the name of Christian, and yet they themselves do nothing to learn the beauty and power of the teaching which that name expresses.  They do not deserve the name ‘philosopher’!  Indeed, they are worse than ignorant slaves; even a slave is wary to press a charge in a matter of which he is ignorant.  However, these men press charges concerning a teaching of which they know nothing – a fact which my frequent debates with them has made evident.  Such willful ignorance is opposed to the very notion of philosophy.

Interviewer – Now, you yourself have been recognized as a philosopher.  Could you tell us how you came to philosophy? 

Justin – Sure . . . I was attracted to philosophy from a young age and thus spent many years studying under the various schools of thought in the Greek philosophical tradition; but these studies never satisfied my desire for truth; the contradictory opinions which I discovered there at times even led me to despair of ever finding the whole truth.  One day, when I had sought a lonely place by the sea to turn some of these thoughts in my mind, I came upon a mysterious man who, enquiring into my downcast appearance, told me to look to the prophets, those men who had lived and taught long before the philosophers.  These prophets, he told me, were holy men, loved by God, who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, were able to communicate the truth – they proved this by predicting many future events, chief among them being the coming of Christ, which were proved true.  After thinking over this mysterious man’s words, I came to realize that the Christian religion was the only true philosophy.  Yes, many philosophers certainly gained and continue to gain access to some parts of the truth (and I do not cease even now to admire and look up to them for their achievements), but with the coming of Word Incarnate, Christ Himself, that Truth is in its fullness found only within the Church which He established.

Interviewer – Did your conversion cause tensions with the philosophy you had spent so many years studying?

Justin – Certainly not.  True, there were points that had to be critically examined, but many elements were true, in fact some pointed almost directly to Christ.  As I have often said, two roads have been leading to Christ throughout history: the Old Testament prophets pointed to Him in typologies; the philosophers pointed to Him as parts to the whole.

Interviewer – Do you see any value now in using philosophy in the Christian faith?  Or is there not rather some danger of mixing pagan thought with revealed truth?

Justin – On the contrary, the real danger is to think that the truth comes in two completely separate and irreconcilable packages.  Obviously this cannot be the case because truth is not truth if it is not one.  Authentic truth is one!  And for this reason, I have no fear of the truths gained in philosophy; inasmuch as they are true, they belong to the Christian heritage: they are “seeds of truth.” In fact, I would not hesitate to call those philosophers who strove to act according to right reason Christians.  On the other hand, you don’t need to look very far to see the result of a religion that is clearly afraid of reason.

Interviewer – Would you mind explaining that?

Justin – It should be obvious to all your listeners that the pagans practice foolishness in their idol worship.  We Christians do not simply make bare statements about our faith, for we are always ready and able to answer any reasonable question put to us.  The pagans on the other hand, practice foolishness on the authority of un-provable myths alone.  They apply the title of “god” to manmade and corruptible likenesses, which, oddly enough, require constant care.  What stupidity, that men should carve and shape gods out of vile materials and demand veneration towards these images!  How do these men worship as creator an image they themselves have created!  Furthermore, their pagan practices often are in contradiction with each other: some of them worship mice and crocodiles, while others do not consider these to be gods, but rather use mice and crocodiles as sacrificial victims to be offered before the real gods, which they believe to be cats.  I’m sure you can see the logic problem here.

Interviewer – I certainly do.  One last question, as I can see that your executioners are already making their final preparations.  Why don’t you Christians all commit suicide, and thus go directly to God?

Justin –  I’m glad you asked, for many are in the dark on this point.  We certainly will go directly to God because we are suffering death in defense of the truth; but we are not bringing death upon ourselves directly.

Interviewer – If you do not will your own death, then why don’t you just offer the incense to save yourselves?

Justin – Offering incense to a false god is an ungodly act and not worthy of those who serve the Truth.  We believe that the true God created us for a purpose: so that we might seek to imitate Him in His perfections and so be found pleasing in His sight.  To either practice idolatry or to commit suicide are both actions which would bring us away from God.  However, to be martyred for refusing to give up the truth for the sake of preserving mere earthly existence is not only pleasing to God, but is in imitation of His Son.

Interviewer – And with those final words, I must let you go.  Thank you Justin for spending some of your last moments sharing your thoughts with our listeners, and I sincerely hope that you attain the happiness which you long for.

Justin – Thank you Dr. Montgomery for having me.  And let me just give a final message to your listeners.  If you have found the Truth, don’t renounce it, even at the cost of your own life.  And if you have not found it, do not rest until you rest in that Truth, without which your life will be meaningless.

Interviewer – And there you have it folks.  That was Justin, philosopher, Christian and soon to be martyr.  Who knows, perhaps they might change his name to Justin Martyr one of these days.  You’ve been listening to Meet the Martyrs; I’m Dr. Montgomery Montgomery III wishing you all a pleasant afternoon.

 

Sources used in the production of this fictional interview:

Justin Martyr, The First Apology & The Second Apology & Dialogue with Trypho, trans. Thomas B. Falls. New York: Christian Heritage, 1948.

Pope Benedict XVI, Church Fathers. San Fransisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.

Eusebius, Church History. At New Advent, www.newadvent.org.