St. Justin presented Christianity as an entirely reasonable religion.

Wednesday, 6/1/16

Today we honor St. Justin, a saint who presented Christianity as a completely reasonable religion. Justin, as a wealthy youth, had the time to devote himself to mastering the philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In a world given over to the worship of idols, Justin followed the great ones of Greece in coming to the knowledge of the one God and creator who rewards good lives.

One day, dressed in his philosopher robes, and walking the beach, Justin fell in with an old Christian who complimented him on knowing so much about God. But then, the old Christian told him, “As much as you know about God, you do not know him personally.

Deeply moved by the truth of that, Justin submitted himself to a thorough mental and spiritual schooling in Christianity. So total was his immersion In the Faith, that he settled near the Forum in Rome, where he set up a school for those who wanted to become Christians.

Two other specialties of the school were that first, he entered into successful debates with Christian heretics, depriving them of followers who saw that Justin had to be right. Secondly, he paid close attention to the debates in the Roman Forum, boldly setting them straight when they pictured Christianity in a wrong way.

  

One such instance arose when a Roman senator pictured our Christian ceremonies as a form of worshipping a goat. In his rebuttal of that, Justin gave us our first fine description of how we conduct our Sunday service.