Jörg Ulrich: The Peculiar Merit of the Human Body. Exegesis of Gen 1,27f. and Gen 2,7 in 1Clem, Justin and (Ps?)Justin

In some second century Christian texts, a combined exegesis of Gen 1,26f. and Gen 2,7 argues for the peculiar merit of the human body. These authors connect the “imago Dei” not just with the soul, but with the formation of the human body from the dust of the earth. This may reflect an anti-'Gnostic' agenda and/or an effort to counteract theories of embodiment which reject the flesh.This paper will examine evidence from 1Clem, Justin’s Dialogue and (Ps.?)Justin’s De resurrectione. It will show how this exegetical labor reflects ongoing negotiations around problems of embodiment which would have lasting implications for Christian theories of incarnation, asceticism, and the resurrection.

Anna Petrin: Liturgy and Apology: Justin Martyr’s Discussions of the Eucharist

The ‘liturgical portions’ of Justin Martyr’s writings have long been invaluable to scholars of liturgical history because of their comparatively detailed descriptions of pre-Nicene liturgical rites. In both the First Apology (65-67) and the Dialogue with Trypho (41, 70, 117), Justin provides seemingly straightforward descriptions of baptism, the eucharist, and weekly worship, along with theological interpretation.  Rarely, however, have liturgical historians considered how these descriptions serve Justin’s broader apologetic project. Indeed, aspects of the two texts’ liturgical descriptions can be difficult to harmonize precisely because they are so carefully nuanced for the benefit of Justin’s interlocutors and audiences. The theological descriptions of the eucharistic meal, for example, differ notably between the First Apology and the Dialogue.  This paper examines the intersection of apology and liturgy in Justin Martyr’s writings and considers how his discussions of the eucharist fit into his broader project of Christian identity formation in the late antique world. Justin’s works operate at the boundary lines between the Roman, Jewish, and Christian communities and navigate the complex and multi-layered set of identities to which his readers would have subscribed. Better understanding how he deploys these liturgical descriptions in service of his apologetic purposes will provide us with a better grasp of the writings of Justin and will also allow liturgical historians to be more precise in their use of these invaluable descriptions of early Christian liturgy.

Nathan Betz: Beyond the Millennium: Surprising Conceptions of the New Jerusalem in Justin’s Dial. 80-81 and Irenaeus's Adv. Haer. 5.35-56

Despite, or perhaps because of, its status as a commonplace in Christian discourse from apostolic times, the idea of the New Jerusalem (NJ) in its patristic reception has received scant focused scholarly attention. This presentation marks the second stage in a sustained study meant to map the patristic interpretations of the sign through the early 600s. In the mid-second century, Justin Martyr describes the NJ in literal and millennial terms (Dial.80-81). Several decades later, Irenaeus follows Justin’s lead (Adv. Haer.5.35-36)—but only in part. Purporting to draw on a yet earlier tradition, Irenaeus asserts asecondNew Jerusalem that appears after the millennial Jerusalem (5.35.2)—a final soteriological reality that stands distinct from the millennial teaching for which Irenaeus would become infamous.Bearing these things in mind, I have set forth three tasks for this presentation. (1) I will compare Justin’s and Irenaeus’s interpretations of the NJ in these texts, demonstrating how they elucidate two competing normative early Christian conceptions of the NJ. (2) I will show that both authors make a theological connection between the NJ and what later would be calledtheosis. (3) I will demonstrate that this mystical conception of the NJ seems to have been espoused and developed in the Greek Revelation commentaries of Oecumenius (In Apoc.11.15—12.7) and Andrew of Caesarea (In Apoc.22.65—23.68), both from c. 600, likely revealing Justin and Irenaeus to be the wellspring of what would become one of several characteristic interpretations of the NJ in the patristic era.

Paul Parvis: P.Oxy 78.5129 and the Transmission of the Text of the Apologies of Justin Martyr

P.Oxy 5129, splendidly edited in 2012 by W.B. Henry, is a tiny scrap of a parchment codex, dated to the fourth century by its editor, containing on both recto (hair side) and verso (flesh side) portions of three lines of text – a mere seventy-seven letters in all – from Justin’s First Apology 50.12 and 51.4—5. As exiguous as the fragment is, it provides important new evidence for the transmission of the text of the Apologies, which depends essentially on the sole manuscript of independent standing (Parisinus graecus 450, or A, dated by the scribe to 11 September 1364) and fragments in Eusebius. The new fragment not only sheds light on the circulation of the text in Late Antiquity, but, more importantly, has not inconsiderable implications for our evaluation of the reliability of the text of A.Since the eighteenth century editors and critics have been divided between those (like Munier) who broadly defend the integrity of the text of A and those (like Harnack, Schmid, and Marcovich) who think it reflects frequent and serious corruption. (Denis Minns and I took the latter view in our Oxford edition of 2009.) The Oxyrhynchus fragment contains in its small compass three variants from the text of A, one minor and two – both plausible – of appreciably more significance.Apart from its direct contribution to the reconstruction of the text, P.Oxy 5129 strongly supports the view that the text as transmitted by A invites considerable surgery.

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).

Fernando Rivas Rebaque: Justin Martyr as a Christian organic intellectual in Rome (second century)

In this paper, we will study the figure of Justin Martyr from the concept of organic intellectual proposed by the Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci, as opposed to traditional intellectual. While the first one is organically linked to a class or social group, usually with a progressive and marginal character, the traditional intellectual, despite their close contacts with the dominant social groups, considers itself independent of these ties, maintaining a certain feeling of of caste solidarity and cohesion.

Christian Teachers in Second-Century Rome

Christian intellectuals such as Valentinus, Justin, and Marcion have received a good deal of attention when it comes to their role in the development of early Christianity. In recent years, a new appreciation for the different strands of belief they represent has come to be widely shared by a generation of scholars seeking to think beyond the boundaries of traditional theological and historical categories. The workshop we propose, dedicated to Christian teachers and their students in second-century Rome, situates itself in this open field of inquiry. We strive to understand these individuals not simply as placeholders in the history of doctrine but rather as teachers pursuing their livelihood in the marvelously complicated fabric of urban Rome: seeking spaces in which to live and teach, attracting students, cultivating patrons, interacting with texts, and engaging in polemics with other teachers. These teachers and their students participated simultaneously in other social, commercial, and ethnic networks, and these networks will have played important roles when it came to establishing and maintaining social contacts and connections. Christian “schools” also shared many features with other groups of philosophers, litterateurs, sophists, and physicians, and a great deal can be learned by careful comparison with such groups.      With this framework in mind, participants will offer papers on important second-century Christian teachers that worked in Rome:  Justin Martyr (Fernando Rivas Rebaque), Valentinus (Christoph Markschies), the question of Valentinian “schools” (Einar Thomassen), Tatian (Miguel Herrero de Jauregui), Theodotus and his followers (H. Gregory Snyder), and Hippolytus (Marek Raczkiewicz).  Other papers deal with comparative issues or broader themes: the artistic representation of teachers in Roman art (Robin Jensen), the social context for Marcion, making connections to Jewish groups (Judith Lieu), and an overview of Christian “schools” (Angelo de Berardino). Contributors to the workshop have latitude to pursue questions of particular interest to themselves in whatever ways they see fit, but the overarching goal of the workshop is a richer and more nuanced understanding of what it meant to be a Christian teacher in second-century Rome.

Viviana Félix: Platonismo y reflexión trinitaria en Justino

En este trabajo intentaremos identificar los elementos filosóficos recogidos por Justino en su reflexión sobre Dios y, de modo particular, ver si es posible hablar de un paradigma que tomaría de sus contemporáneos filósofos platónicos, para esbozar una doctrina trinitaria. Para esto consideraremos algunas de las doctrinas hipostáticas vigentes en el siglo II de las que podría haberse servido. Por tratarse de una teología trinitaria  incipiente, previa a la controversia arriana y a las definiciones de Nicea y Constantinopla, carece de las precisiones terminológicas de los concilios nombrados, pero tampoco acusa recibo del "trauma arriano", siendo otros sus interlocutores y, consecuentemente, otras las soluciones que propone, acordes a ese horizonte de referencia en el que se insertaría su respuesta.
Habiendo establecido lo anterior, haremos una valoración crítica del uso que Justino hace de esas categorías filosóficas en su teología, tratando de señalar alcance, aportes y límites del mismo.

Micah Miller: What's in a Name?: Justin Martyr's Use of Names of Christ

Justin Martyr's use of names to describe Christ is well-documented in the secondary literature. In his classic study, E.R. Goodenough concludes that Justin's use of names demonstrates Philonic influence (The Theology of Justin Martyr, 168-175). L. Barnard would later refute Goodenough's argument and assert that Christian exegesis of the Old Testament was responsible for Justin's use of names to describe Christ (Justin Martyr, 92-96). In their respective works, Goodenough and Barnard have examined only the individual names Justin uses; they, as well as other scholars, have not addressed whether or not Justin has a general theory of names that explains how he uses names to describe Christ. In this paper, I will re-examine Justin's use of names through an exegesis of 2 Apol. 6, which contains Justin's fullest explanation of the purpose of names. This passage reveals that Justin has a theory of names with three points: (1) Justin provides a brief explanation of the origin of names (also established in Dial. 86.3); (2) he explains that names reveal the nature of their bearers; and (3) he allows for unknown meanings with respect to divine names, signifying that he believes names are both natural and conventional. A discussion of these three points within their philosophical and grammatical framework will better demonstrate how Justin uses his theory to reveal Christ's person and work (e.g., in 1 Apol. 63.5 and Dial. 125.3), show the eclectic nature of his influences, and situate him within the tradition of philosophical and Christian theories of names.

M Tong: Reading Gender in Justin Martyr: New Insights from Old Apologies

Although there has been some discussion about Justin Martyr’s views on sexuality, perhaps most notably addressed by Jennifer Knust in her 2007 chapter “Enslaved to Demons: Sex, Violence and the Apologies of Justin Martyr,” in an edited volume Mapping Gender in Ancient Religious Discourses (Brill, 2007), few have read Justin’s texts exclusively for clues to his gender ideology. This communication focuses on three examples where Justin directly addresses gender. First is the self-castration episode in the First Apology, where a Christian youth petitions the Alexandrian governor Felix for permission to receive a medical castration. Next is Justin’s response to the pagan birth narrative of Athena where he ridicules the idea that a god’s “first principle” could be female in form. Finally is Justin’s circumcision argument in the Dialogue with Trypho where he uses the fact that Jewish women were not circumcised as proof that circumcision is unnecessary. In each example, I hope to present a few possibilities for interpretation. My aim is not so much to present an exhaustive exposition of Justin’s gender ideology than to serve as a starting point for further explorations of Justin’s contributions to the discourse of gender in early Christianity. In particular, I am interested in the ways in which Justin both utilizes and innovates dominant gender ideologies of his time, as well as the way in which Justin’s gendered arguments may or may not cohere with the larger aims of his rhetorical projects.

Benjamin White: “Playing a Jewish Game” or Crossing the “Borderline”? A Re-reading of Justin’s Judaizing Gentile Christians in Dialogue 47

This short communication offers a re-reading of Chapter 47 of Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho.  In particular, it addresses the proper understanding of a particular group of Judaizing Gentile Christians mentioned by Justin, whom he says will “equally be saved.”  Normally understood as analogous to Luke’s Godfearers or Ignatius’ “Judaizers” (Mag. 10.3), I argue here that Justin’s language about this group of Judaizers suggests something else.  They are not just nibbling around the edges of the Jewish Law, and thus easily able to be pulled back by a superior apologetic.  Rather, they are Judaizing in the greatest possible way: conversion to Judaism.  They are not merely “playing a Jewish game,” to use Michelle Murray’s language, but crossing a “borderline,” to use the language of Daniel Boyarin.  I argue that adult, male circumcision is envisioned here by Justin and that the language he chooses to describe their “transfer over to the way of life characterized by law” most closely matches the language used by the author of 2 Maccabees to describe Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ program of complete and total conversion of Jerusalem to a Greek politeuma.  If my reading can be sustained, Justin, in noting that such formerly Gentile (but now Jewish) Christians will “equally be saved,” seems quite remarkable and his shocking soteriological generosity must be explained within a larger text that tries to erect firm boundaries between Christians and Jews.  I attempt to do this at the end of the short communication.