Tobias Georges: Justin’s “Dialogue” and the search for contemporary discourse between Christians and Jews: A closer look at “Dialogue”, chapter 47

There has been a long-lasting scholarly debate on the question if Justin’s “Dialogue with Trypho” reflects an authentic Christian-Jewish dialogue. Without claiming to answer this question, this paper will focus on “Dialogue”, chapter 47 in order to point to a contemporary discourse between Christians and Jews that might stand in the background of Justin’s writing:In chapter 47, Trypho and Justin are discussing the question if there will be eternal salvation for Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah and keep on observing the law. Against other Christian opinions, Justin argues that they will be saved as far as they do not force their fellow Christians to observe the law equally. While this gives quite good evidence for an inner-Christian discourse on the salvation of Christ-believers who keep on observing the law, the subsequent lines in chapter 47 suggest that Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ are part of the broader Christian-Jewish discourse focusing on the question of eternal salvation. Because for Justin, the crucial point in all attempts to make Christians observe the law (even in the attempts of assumed Christ-believers) is that they tend to replace faith in Christ by the observance of the law, as an excluding alternative. As the force behind this tendency, Justin points to Jews who explicitly do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.It is precisely the question of eternal salvation that makes Justin and Trypho start their discussion in the “Dialogue” (8.2-4).