Justin, often considered the first great Christian apologist and philosopher, was born of pagan parents at the end of the first century in present day Nablus, Syria.

As a young man he was an earnest seeker after wisdom, but none could satisfy his desire for truth, until one day in Alexandria an elderly Christian introduced him to the Christian Bible.

Justin also used to observe the trials and torments of the Christian martyrs, and was astonished at their fearlessness in the face of pain and death. It was this living faith of the martyrs, combined with his studies of the Scriptures, which led to his becoming a disciple of Christ at the age of 30.

He still lived the life of an austere ‘seeker after wisdom’, traveling about in Asia Minor, and even living for a time in Rome. In defence of the Church, he rebutted the ideas of Marcion, a priest who raised questions on the canonicity of the books in the Bible. His treatise, the Dialogue with Tryphon, a Jewish rabbi, is a classic collection of arguments presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law, and as the messiah. It was put together in Ephesus towards the end of his life.

There is also another treatise written to Diognetus, the teacher of Marcus Aurelius, on the relation between reality and faith. Its concluding words are memorable, the words of a man who was soon to give his life for what he believed in:

“The greatest blessing I can wish you, is that you might come to realize that wisdom is given to every man through this Way of Life, and that some day you too might come to believe as we do, that Jesus is the Christ of God !”