St. Justin was born around the year AD 100 into a pagan family in Neapolis of Palestine. In the course of his search for truth, he was trained in the Stoic and Platonic schools of philosophy. However, finding no true satisfaction in them, he turned to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. This ultimately led him to Christianity. Having embraced the Christian faith at Ephesus around AD 132, he thereafter travelled through various places teaching others this new philosophy, namely the Christian faith. Eventually, he arrived in Rome and established a school of theology there.

However, because of his propagation of the Christian faith in Rome, he was brought before the Roman Prefect and, together with his six companions, was put to death by beheading. He attained martyrdom by beheading around AD 165. The ancient work The Martyrdom of St. Justin and His Companions (Martyrium Sancti Justini et Sociorum) presents in detail the account of his martyrdom.

Although St. Jerome provides an extensive list of the writings of St. Justin in his work De Viris Illustribus (DVI 23), the most notable among them are the two Apologies addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius and the Roman Senate questioning the unjust persecution of Christians, as well as the Dialogue with Trypho, which establishes the superiority of the Christian faith over Judaism.

Having realized through his own life that philosophy is a pathway leading to theology, he explained this relationship through the concept of the Logos Spermatikos. He taught that the Divine Word existed in the form of a seed among the prophets of the Old Testament and even among the Greek philosophers, and that its fullness is found in Jesus Christ.

Having sacrificed his life for the proclamation and defence of the faith, he is honoured in the
Church as one of the foremost among the Greek Apologists.

Rev. Dr. Alex Sebastian Kollamkalam