The Second Apology of Justin Martyr

Authorship, Date, and Context

The Second Apology is an authentic Greek apologetic work composed by Saint Justin Martyr, a Christian philosopher native to Flavia Neapolis in Samaria who established a philosophical academy in Rome. Authorship is explicitly attested by his disciple Tatian in the Address to the Greeks, by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, and by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History (IV, 16-17).

Regarding date and historical occasion, patristic scholars such as Georges Goyau, and modern commentators date the composition in Rome between 155 and 161 CE, near the close of Antoninus Pius's reign and prior to his death in 161 CE, or at the start of Marcus Aurelius's rule. The immediate impetus was the arbitrary trial and capital punishment ordered by the urban prefect Quintus Lollius Urbicus (prefect of Rome c. 144-160 CE) against Ptolemaeus, Lucius, and a third Christian, executed solely for confessing their Christian identity. Justin addresses the Roman Senate and emperors, foreseeing his own imminent execution orchestrated by the Cynic philosopher Crescens.

Structure

The Second Apology contains fifteen concise chapters in standard modern editions, functioning historically as an urgent supplementary petition appended to Justin's First Apology.

The argumentative structure divides into three successive movements. The opening movement (chapters 1 to 3) narrates the specific historical occasion of the recent executions under the prefect Urbicus and denounces the dishonest malice of the Cynic philosopher Crescens against Justin. The intermediate movement (chapters 4 to 13) provides philosophical and theological vindication: it clarifies why Christians refrain from suicide to hasten to God, exposes the demonic origin of anti-Christian persecution rooted in the fall of rebel angels, develops the celebrated concept of the seminal Word (Logos spermatikos) that guided ancient figures such as Socrates and virtuous lawgivers, and refutes vulgar slanders of cannibalism and incest by pointing to Christian fearlessness in death. The closing movement (chapters 14 and 15) delivers a final petition, imploring the Roman authorities to publish this address so that public ignorance and judicial prejudice may be dispelled.

Themes and Key Passages

The controlling theological themes center on the transcendent nature of the unbegotten God, the complete incarnation of the divine Logos in Jesus Christ compared to fragmented seeds of reason in pre-Christian philosophy, the malicious influence of fallen demons inciting rulers to hostility, human moral accountability rooted in genuine free will, and the unblemished sanctity of Christian moral life.

Pivotal textual passages include Justin's famous declaration in chapter 13 that whatever has been uttered aright by any men belongs to us Christians, because all writers possessed a implanted seed of the Logos according to their capacity; his autobiographical confession in chapter 12 that while studying Platonism, seeing Christians fearlessly confront torture and death convinced him that they could never be guilty of hidden vice or gluttony; and the comparison in chapter 10 between Socrates and Christ, underscoring that no one ever died for Socrates's philosophy, whereas for Christ, unlearned artisans and philosophers alike willingly laid down their lives.

Summary by Parts

The injustice of Urbicus and Crescens's machinations (chapters 1-3): Justin details how a converted Roman matron abandoned dissolute living and sought legal divorce from her unfaithful husband. In retaliation, the husband denounced her Christian instructor Ptolemaeus to Prefect Lollius Urbicus, who condemned him to death immediately upon his confession. A bystander named Lucius protested against punishing an innocent man guilty of no civic crime, only to be condemned alongside him, followed by a third believer. Justin expects a similar fate through the enmity of Crescens, an ostentatious Cynic ignorant of genuine Christian philosophy.

Philosophical objections, rebel angels, and the Logos (chapters 4-10): Addressing the taunt that Christians should commit suicide, Justin explains that God created the world with order for humanity's benefit, so suicide would thwart divine providence; yet when interrogated, Christians never lie. He outlines the rebellion of angels who consorted with women, generating demonic spirits who introduced magic, blood offerings, and immoral mythological tales attributed to pagan deities. Christ is the eternal Word through whom all was ordered and by whose name believers cast out demons in Rome. Justin compares Christian martyrdom to the plight of Stoics like Musonius and especially Socrates, whom demons slew for rejecting false gods.

Justin's conversion, the universal Word, and final appeal (chapters 11-15): Contrasting genuine virtue with hollow worldly pleasure, Justin recalls his intellectual turning point: witnessing Christian serenity amid martyrdom demolished popular slanders of Thyestean feasts and incest. He demonstrates that while pagan philosophers perceived truth dimly through the seminal word, Christianity possesses the full manifestation of the Logos made flesh. He concludes by urging Roman rulers to publish his treatise to enlighten the populace, warning that judges who sentence the innocent bring upon themselves eternal condemnation in fire.

Reception

Justin's Second Apology played an influential role in early Christian apologetics. Tatian cited Crescens's persecution against Justin; Eusebius of Caesarea quoted extensively from the text in his Ecclesiastical History (IV, 16-17) to chronicle the martyrdoms under Urbicus and the moral fortitude of the Roman Church, regarding the petition as an official state address.

The preservation of the text rests exclusively on a single surviving medieval manuscript: Codex Parisinus Graecus 450, transcribed in 1364 and housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. In this manuscript, the Second Apology appears bound before the First Apology. The editio princeps was published in Greek by Robert Estienne in Paris in 1551, followed by the definitive Benedictine edition of Prudent Maran in 1742, reprinted in Jacques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Graeca (volume 6).

Sources

• Georges Goyau, St. Justin Martyr (1910).
• Justin Martyr; Marcus Dods; George Reith; B. P. Pratten, The Second Apology (1885).
• Peter Kirby, St. Justin Martyr (2013).