1. Justin's works are cited according to the edition of Goodspeed, Edgar J., Die ältesten Apologeten (Göttingen, 1914).Google Scholar In the passages quoted, I have made free use of existing translations (usually the Ante-Nicene Christian Library). However, I have checked carefully the accuracy of all translations and occasionally have altered them when they were not sufficiently literal or accurate for my purposes.

2. In Apology 1.1Google Scholar Justin tells us that his father bore the Greek name Priscus, his grandfather the Latin name Bacchius.

3. According to the Acts of his martyrdom, Justin was tried before Q. Iunius Rusticus, the urban prefect and former tutor of Marcus Aurelius. Rusticus had been consul suffectus in 133 and was made consul for the second time in 162, probably becoming urban prefect shortly thereafter. His successor seems to have been L. Sergius Paulus (consul in 150 and again in 168), and this man was prefect after Galen's first stay in Rome (162–166; Galen 2.218; 14.612 [ed. Kühn]). This makes Rusticus's term of office end about 167/168 and places Justin's execution between 162 and 167/168. I am indebted to Professor Robert M. Grant for his help with this chronology.

4. For examples of those who accept the essential historicity, see Chadwick, Henry, “Justin Martyr's Defence of Christianity,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 47 (1965): 280CrossRefGoogle Scholar: “we are being given an essentially veracious autobiography” and Barnard, Leslie W., Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought (Cambridge, 1967), p. 11Google Scholar: “the account of Justin's philosophical quest as recorded in Dial ii is based on sound historical tradition—namely, that Justin really underwent instruction at the hands of a Stoic teacher, a Peripatetic, a Pythagorean and finally the Platonists.” Examples of scholars who regard the account as literary fiction include: Goodenough, Erwin R., The Theology of Justin Martyr (Jena, 1923), pp. 57–77;Google Scholar and especially Hyldahl, Niels, Philosophie und Christentum: Eine Interpretation der Einleitung zum Dialog Justins, Acta Theologica Danica 9 (Copenhagen, 1966), pp. 140–159.Google Scholar Both Goodenough and Hyldahl cite a number of impressive parallels to Justin's account (for example, Lucian, , Menippus 4–6Google Scholar), arguing that it was a common literary convention to relate one's experiences in various schools of philosophy in order to criticize these schools.

5. Goodenough, , Theology, p. 58.Google Scholar

6. Tatian, , Or. 29.1–2;Google ScholarFelix, Minucius, Oct. 40.1–2.Google Scholar

7. Goodenough, , Theology, p. 62;Google Scholar so also Hyldahl, , Philosophie und Christentum, pp. 272–292.Google Scholar

8. Andresen's, Carl view was sent forth first in “Justin und der mittlere Platonismus,” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 44 (1952): 157–195Google Scholar, and again in Logos und Nomos: Die Polemik des Kelsos wider des Christentum, Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 30 (Berlin, 1955), pp. 312–344.Google Scholar

9. On this subject, see Armstrong, A.H., “Greek Philosophy and Christianity,” in Finley, M.I., ed., The Legacy of Greece: A New Appraisal (Oxford, 1984), pp. 347–375, esp. pp. 359–367.Google Scholar The convenient, though methodologically useless, term “eclectic” typically is used to describe the Platonism of this period.

10. “Die Zitate aus Platon machen keinen Eindruck eigner Lectürer” Geffcken, Johannes, Zwei griechische Apologeten (Leipzig, 1907), p. 103 and n. 4.Google Scholar

11. Chadwick, Henry, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement and Origen (Oxford, 1966), p. 11.Google Scholar

12. Apol. 1.5.3–4; 2.10.5–8. See also Apol. 2.8.1, where Heraclitus and the Roman Stoic Musonius Rufus similarly are praised.

13. Apol. 1.25.2, 1.61.11, 1.63.1; Apol. 2.6.1, 2.12.4; Dial. 5.4.

14. Apol. 1.20.4; Dial. 5.4.

15. Apol. 1.44.8–9; Dial. 4.2.

16. For a complete list of the points of agreement and disagreement between Platonism and Christianity according to Justin, see Chadwick, , Early Christian Thought, p. 12 and p. 128, nn. 19–23.Google Scholar

17. Noted by Joly, Robert, Christianisme et Philosophie: Etudes sur Justin et les Apologistes grecs du deuxième siècle, Université Libre de Bruxelles 52 (Brussels, 1973), p. 66Google Scholar, Albinus, citing, Epitome 25.6Google Scholar (ed. Louis).

18. “Derweltgeschichtliche Bund zwischen kirchlichem Christenthum und griechischer Philosophie” Harnack, Adolf von, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, vol. 1, Die Entstehung des kirchlichen Dogmas (Tübingen, 1909), p. 498.Google Scholar

19. See my Homer or Moses? Early Christian Interpretations of the History of Culture, Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie (Tübingen, forthcoming), chap. 2, in which I discuss the Jewish writers Eupolemus, Artapanus, Philo, and Josephus.

20. How Justin arrived at these dates is not at all clear. Since the first prophecy of Christ's advent occurred 5,000 years before, and since Moses is the first of the prophets (unless Adam is assigned that position; but see Apol. 1.59.1), Justin seems to imply that Moses lived 5,000 years before Christ. If this is the case, it is an astounding claim. Later Christian apologists are less bold. Theophilus dates Moses 900 or possibly 1000 years before the Trojan War (Ad Autol. 3.21, following Josephus, , C. Ap. 1.104Google Scholar). This date would correspond roughly to Justin's 2,000 years. Tatian places Moses before the foundation of Troy (Or. 36.1).

21. Gager, John G., Moses in Greco-Roman Paganism, Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 16 (Nashville, 1972)Google Scholar, gives some indication of the respect commanded by the figure of Moses in antiquity.

22. The importance of Rep. 617e in discussions of the problem of evil among middle Platonists such as Maximus of Tyre (Or. 41.5, ed. Hobein) and Albinus (Epitome 31.1; see 26.1–2, ed. Louis) is that it is used as evidence to support the claim that Justin had some training in Platonic philosophy. However, this passage, like most of Justin's citations from Plato, was part of the tradition of Platonic anthologies (see Diels, Hermann, Doxographi Graeci [Berlin, 1879], p. 569Google Scholar, line 21).

23. See Diels, , Doxographi Graeci, p. 575Google Scholar, line 6.

24. Andresen, , “Justin und der mittlere Platonismus,” pp. 188–190.Google Scholar

25. See, for example, Clement, Strom. 5.103.1 (compare 7.9.3); Eusebius, P. E. 11.20.2. Eusebius, who may know something about Platonic exegesis of this passage, says that “these statements are referred, by those who attempt to explain Plato, to the first god, and to the second cause, and thirdly to the world soul, defining it as a third god” (11.20.3). Compare Athenagoras, Leg. 23.4. According to Hippolytus, Valentinus derived his idea of the pleroma from this passage (Ref. 6.37.5–6).

26. Proclus, In Timaeum 1.303.27–304.7 ( = Numenius Fragment 21, in Places, Edouard des, Numénius: Fragments [Paris, 1973], p. 60Google Scholar). English translation in Dillon, John, The Middle Platonisis (Ithaca, N.Y., 1977), pp. 366–367.Google Scholar

27. F 24 (des Places), pp 62–65. See Dillon, further, The Middle Ptatonisis, pp. 367–372.Google Scholar As to Numenius's date, there is much to be said in favor of Rudolf Beutler's supposition that his floruit was the first half of the second century (“Numenios von Apamea,” RealEncyctopädie der classichen Altestumswissenschaft, Supplementband (Stuttgart, 1940), 7: 665.Google Scholar So also Waszink, Jan H., Studien zum Timaioskommentar des Calcidius, I: Die erste Hälfte des Kommentar, Philosophia Antiqua 12 (Leiden, 1964), p. 24.Google Scholar Whether Numenius should be considered primarily as a Neopythagorean or a middle Platonists is much debated. It is really a moot question, however, since Numenius himself believed that the essential elements of Plato's philosophy were identical to (indeed, derived from) the principal doctrines of Pythagoras.

28. Plotinus, Enn. 1.8.2; 5.1.8; 6.7.42.

29. The earliest evidence for Plato's voyage to Egypt is Hecataeus of Abdera, FGrHist 264 F 25 (= Diodorus Siculus 1.96.2). Compare Cicero, , De fin. 5.87;Google Scholar Plutarch, De Is. et Osir. 354e; Apuleius, , De Platone 1.3 (ed. Thomas, p. 84)Google Scholar; Diogenes Laertius 3.6; Philostratus, , Vita Apollonii 1.2;Google Scholar so also Clement, Strom. 1.66.3; and Origen, , C. Cels. 4.39.Google Scholar See Bidez, further Joseph, Eos, ou Platon et l'Orient (Brussels, 1945), pp. 1–8, 21–23.Google Scholar Heinrich Dörrie, “Platons Reisen zu fernen Völkern,” in Boer, W. den et al. , eds., Romanitas et Christianitas (Amsterdam, 1973), pp. 99–118;Google Scholar and Swift, A. Riginos, Platonica: The Anecdotes Concerning the Life and Writings of Plato, Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition 3 (Leiden, 1976), pp. 62–69.Google Scholar

30. See esp. Murray, Oswyn, “Hecataeus of Abdera and Pharaonic Kingship,” Journal of Egyptian Archeology 56 (1970): 141–171CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and the literature cited therein.

31. Chadwick, , Early Christian Thought, pp. 14–15.Google Scholar Augustine is an instructive example. He considered it improbable that Plato had read the Jewish scriptures or met the prophet Jeremiah (De civ. dei 8.11, retracting his earlier acceptance of this notion in De doctr. Chr. 2.28.43); but he held nevertheless that while in Egypt Plato studied the Old Testament “through an interpreter … learning as much as he could by means of conversation.” This explains for Augustine the numerous similarities between the Timaeus and the book of Genesis.

32. Chadwick, , Early Christian Thought, pp. 14 and 129Google Scholar, n. 30, citing the anonymous life of Plato in Photius, , Bibl. 249;Google Scholar and Augustine, De civ. dei 2.28.43. On Pythagorean pseudepigrapha, see Thesleff, Holger, An Introduction to the Pythagorean Writings of the Hellenistic Period, Acta Academiae Aboensis Humaniora 24.3 (Abo, 1961).Google Scholar Jews and Christians produced similar texts (for example, Sibyllina, oracles, Orphica, verses of Sophocles). Much of this literature can be found in Pseudo-Justin, , Cohortatio ad gentiles 11, 15–16, 18–19.Google Scholar

33. Numenius F 8, des Places, pp. 50–51 ( = Clement, Strom. 1.150.4). According to Origen, “Numenius the Pythagorean, a man who expounded Plato with very great skill and maintained the Pythagorean doctrines, quotes Moses and the prophets in many passages in his writings, and gives them no improbable allegorical interpretations,” C. Cels. 4.50, referring to a story about Jesus and one about Moses, Jannes, and Jambres. Numenius also seems to have commented allegorically on Genesis 1:2, F 30, des Places, pp. 80–81 ( = Porphyry, , De antro nympharum 10Google Scholar). It is interesting that this same verse figures prominently in Justin's exegesis; see Apol. 1.59.3; 64.3.

34. See, for example, Plutarch, De Is. et Osir. 369de; Apuleius, , Florida 15 (ed. Helm, p. 21);Google Scholar and the discussion in Momigliano, Arnoldo, Alien Wisdom: The Limits of Hellenization (Cambridge, 1975), pp. 141–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar In his dialogue On Philosophy Aristotle apparently had established a connection between Zoroaster and Plato (F 6 Ross).

35. But not surprisingly, we also can find Justin's theory of relations turned inside Out. For example, Amelius, a successor of Plotinus, aruged that the author of the Fourth Gospel derived his “logos language” from studying the enigmatic sayings of Heraclitus. In Eusebius, P.E. 11.19.1, cited by Chadwick, , Early Christian Thought, p. 15.Google Scholar

36. It is worth noting that even today scholars debate the question of “oriental” influences on Plato. See the discussion in Culianu, loan P., Psychanodia I, Etudes préliminaires aux religious orientales dans l'empire romain 99 (Leiden, 1983), pp. 16–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

37. Harnack, for example, thought that the theory of dependence was an adaptation of the Jewish view of world history, but that Justin's “real opinion” (which, according to Harnack, was “more liberal”) only gained expression in the logos theory. Harnack, , Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, 1: 511, n. 1.Google Scholar Compare Osborn, E.F., Justin Martyr, Beiträge zur historischen Theologie 47 (Tübingen, 1973), pp. 200–201:Google Scholar “The Greek challenge to Christian maturity cannot be answered by both the spermatic logos and the charge of Greek plagiarism. Either God has given seeds of truth or the Greeks have stolen them. Both accounts cannot be true.”

38. See the excellent study by Holte, Ragner, “Logos Spermatikos: Christianity and Ancient Philosophy according to St. Justin's Apologies,” Studia Theologica 12 (1958): 109–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

39. See Apol. 2.8.1–3, 2.13.1–6; Apol 1.5.2–4, 1.46.1–5.

40. Andresen, , “Justin und der mittlere Platonismus,” pp. 170–177.Google ScholarHolte, , “Logos Spermatikos,” pp. 127–128Google Scholar, admits middle Platonic influence but argues that the immediate sources of Justin's logos theory are to be found in Philo's writings and the New Testament (for example, the parable of the sower in Matt. 13:3–9). So also Waszink, Jan H., “Bemerkungen zu Justins Lehre vom Logos Spermatikos,” JAC Ergdnsungsband 1 (1964): 380–90.Google Scholar I doubt, however, whether there is sullicient (indeed, any) evidence to prove that Justin knew the writings of Philo.

41. Apol. 1.46.3. Common to all these men is their “atheism,” that is, their refusal to worship the demons. For the view that Heraclitus was accused of atheism, Clement, Protrep. 4.50.4; Celsus, in Origin, C. Cels. 1.5, 7.62Google Scholar see Benz, Ernst, “Christus und Sokrates in der alten Kirche,” Zeitschift für die neutestatmentliche Wissenschaft 43 (1950): 202, 209.Google Scholar Similarly, Abraham rejected polytheism; Ananias, Azarias, and Misael refused to worship the idol of Nebuchadnezzar; and Elijah rejected the worship of Baal. Plato's name is missing from this list, no doubt because he participated in the pagan cults of his day.

42. See esp. Apol. 1.5.2–6.1, 10.5–6; Apol. 2.5.2–5.

43. In Holte, , “Logos Spermatikos,” p. 163.Google Scholar Other passages expressing the same view include Apol. 1.59.1–6, 1.60.1–11.

44. Justin also uses the logos theory to assert, like Paul in Romans 1–2, that all humans have an essential moral capacity which makes them accountable before God, even if only a few (Socrates, Heraclitus) have made use of it.

45. Wolfson, H.A., Philo, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1948), 1: 141–143.Google Scholar It should be pointed Out, however, that these theories were not highly developed by Philo, at least in his extant writings.

46. Wolfson, H.A., The Philosophy of the Church Fathers (Cambridge, Mass., 1956), p. 41.Google Scholar

47. lam indebted to Holte, , “Logos Spermatikos,” pp. 164–165Google Scholar, for his perceptive evaluation of Wolfson's argument.

48. I have followed the Greek text of van Winden, J.C.M., An Early Christian Philosopher: Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, Chapters One to Nine, Philosophia Patrum 1 (Leiden, 1971), pp. 8, 42.Google Scholar

49. Holte, , “Logos Spermatikos,” p. 164.Google Scholar

50. Dial. 7.1–2. See Skarsaune, Oskar, “The Conversion of Justin Martyr,” Studia Theologica 30 (1976): 70Google Scholar: “Justin underlines his venerable old age by a strangely pleonastic expression: palaios tis presbytés [Dial.3.1]. Justin obviously connected old age with authority and wisdom.”

51. See Holte, , “Logos Spermatikos,” p. 165.Google Scholar

52. Hyldahl, , Philosophie und Christentum, pp. 112–140Google Scholar, citing Diogenes Laertius 7.129 and Seneca, Ep. 90. Hyldahl's hypothesis is supported by Winden, van, An Early Christian Philosopher, p. 42.Google Scholar

53. See Gigon, Olof, “Die Erneuerung der Philosophic in der Zeit Ciceros,” Recherches sur la tradition platonicienne, Entretiens sur l'antiquité classique 3 (Geneva, 1955), pp. 36–37.Google Scholar Compare Joly, Robert, Christianisme et Philosophie, pp. 33–38Google Scholar, who also notes the importance of Antiochus. Joly, however, rejects Hyldahi's view that Posidonius was Justin's source (pp. 23–33). According to Joly, “Posidonius nous parle d'une Urphilosophie mais non d'une decadence de la philosophic” (Posidonius tells us of an Urphilosophie but not of a decadence of philosophy) (p. 26). But this argument, it seems to me, ignores the importance of Diogenes Laertius 7.129, where Posidonius maintains that the divergences of the different philosophical schools is no reason to abandon the pursuit of philosophy. For the designation “ancients,” see Defin. 5.14.

54. In Cicero, , Defin. 4.3; 5.7;Google ScholarAcad. 1.34–35.

55. In Cicero, , Defin. 4.3.Google Scholar

56. F 24, des Places, pp. 62–65 ( = Eusebius, P.E. 14.5.1).

57. On what follows, see Grant, Robert M., The Letter and the Spirit (London, 1957), pp. 18–30.Google Scholar

58. In Eusebius, P.E. 11.2.2–4. In this passage Atticus refers to Plato “as one truly sent down from heaven in order that the philosophy taught by him might be seen in its full proportions.” The language is reminiscent of Justin's description of the revelation to Moses and the prophets.

59. De Platone 1.3 (ed. Thomas, p. 84)Google Scholar, cited by Grant, , Letter andthe Spirit, p. 26.Google Scholar

60. Florida 15 (ed. Helm, p. 21), cited by Grant, , Letter and the Spirit, p. 26.Google Scholar Compare Pausanias 4.32.4, and the anonymous Prolegomena philosophiae Platonicae 6 (ed. Hermann, 6.202).

61. F 1a, des Places, p. 42 ( = Eusebius, P.E. 9.7.1).

62. F 9, des Places, p. 51 ( = Eusebius, P.E. 9.8.1–2). Numenius seems to have had direct knowledge of the Old Testament, as noted by Whittaker, John, “Moses Atticizing,” Phoenix 21 (1967): 196–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

63. Grant, , Letter and the Spirit, p. 26.Google Scholar

64. Perhaps it is Numenius to whom Justin refers when he says that he studied with a philosopher who held “a high position among the Platonists” (Dial. 2.6). Like Justin, Numenius also came from the east, from Apamea in Syria.