St. Justin the Martyr, one of the most famous of the early Church martyrs, is remembered both for his steadfast faith in the face of death, and because he was one of the first thinkers to reconcile the faith with reason.

Justin lived and died in the first part of the second century, and is known as the first Christian apologist. (In Greek, the word “apology” means “to defend with speech.”)

His parents were nonbelievers, and they provided the best education of the time to Justin—he thrived in rhetoric, poetry, and history, and later studied philosophy. He spent several years seeking knowledge of God, and found several teachers who eventually disappointed him. One day, he struck up a conversation with an older man who introduced him to Christianity. Justin inquired further and began to learn the faith.

Even before this encounter, however, the example of Christian martyrs had aroused his curiosity. “Even at the time when I was content with the doctrines of Plato,” he wrote, “when I heard Christians accused and saw them fearlessly meet death and all that is considered terrible, I felt that such people could not possibly have been leading the life of vicious pleasure with which they were credited.” When he was about 30 years old, he fully embraced the faith and became a Christian.

This was very early in the Church’s history, and few non-Christians knew or understood anything about the faith. Early martyrs were mostly uneducated, and died without being able to fully defend their belief. Justin, who spent his life in dialogue with seekers of truth, thought that many others would accept Christianity if they had a reasonable explanation of it. He began to write and speak about the Christian faith to other philosophers.

Christian rituals were the source of much gossip because they were thought to be secretive. Justin explained these rites and other aspects of the faith to the people of the Roman empire, who condemned Christians because they feared they would undermine the nation with their licentiousness and disloyalty. Justin countered that Christians, in fact, were peaceable people concerned for the common good and the rule of law—in fact, he argued, Christians made better Roman citizens.

He made several trips to Rome, where he engaged pagan thinkers in public debate—besting them and revealing their ignorance. In the end, his work was considered a threat to the empire’s cultural religion, and he was arrested and ordered to sacrifice to the Roman gods. He refused and was beheaded with six other Christians (five men and one woman).

The account of his trial and martyrdom remains a valuable artifact in Christian tradition, and is considered very reliable. What follows is part of the proceedings recorded when Justin and his companions were brought before the Roman prefect, Rusticus.

Rusticus: Listen, you who are so eloquent and who believes that he has the truth—if I have you beaten and beheaded, do you believe that you will then go up to heaven?

Justin: If I suffer as you say, I hope to receive the reward of those who keep Christ’s commandments. I know that all who do that will remain in God’s grace even to the consummation of all things.

Rusticus: So you think you will go up to heaven, there to receive a reward?

Justin: I don’t think it, I know it. I have no doubt about it whatsoever.

Rusticus: Very well. Come here and sacrifice to the gods.

Justin: No one in their right mind gives up truth for falsehood.

Rusticus: If you don’t do as I tell you, you will be tortured without mercy.

Justin: We ask nothing better than to suffer for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and so to be saved. If we do this we can stand confidently and quietly before the fearful judgment seat of that same God and savior, when in accordance with divine ordering all this world will pass away.

And so he was killed. Relics of St. Justin Martyr rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.

St. Justin the Martyr, you were one of the first thinkers to rationally defend the faith that you gave your life for—pray for us!

Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Justin Martyr is in the public domain. Last accessed March 18, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.