The ''Dialogue with Trypho'', along with the First and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

Apologies, is a second-century

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

apologetic text, usually agreed to be dated in between AD 155-160. It is seen as documenting the attempts by theologian

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

to show that Christianity is the new law for all men, and to prove from Scripture that Jesus is the Messiah.''Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church: Exploring the Formation of Early Christian Thought''; by Ronald E. Heine (Sep 1, 2007) pages 48-52 The ''Dialogue'' utilizes the literary device of an intellectual conversation between Justin and Trypho, a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. The concluding section propounds that the Christians are the "true" people of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Identity of Trypho

The identity of Trypho as

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Tarfon Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon (, from the Greek language, Greek Τρύφων ''Tryphon'' literally "one who lives in luxury" Trifon), a Kohen, was a member of the Tannaim#The generations of the Tannaim, third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived ...

has been proposed, but many Jewish scholars do not accept this notion.Claudia Setzer, ''Jewish Responses to Early Christians'' (Nov 1, 1994) , p. 215 They instead consider Trypho a fictional character invented by Justin for his literary purposes.Larry R. Helyer, ''Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period'' (Jul 5, 2002) , p. 493

Setting and structure

The setting is presented as a chance meeting between Justin and Trypho in

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

. Justin had just converted to Christianity from a philosophical background and Trypho had just fled the disturbances in Judea. When Justin suggests to Trypho to convert to Christianity, the dialogue becomes animated. Trypho criticizes Christians on a number of grounds, and Justin provides answers to each criticism. In the opening of the ''Dialogue'', Justin relates his vain search among the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

, Peripatetics, and Pythagoreans for a satisfying knowledge of God; his finding in the ideas of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

wings for his soul, by the aid of which he hoped to attain the contemplation of the God-head; and his meeting on the sea-shore with an aged man who told him that by no human endeavor but only by divine revelation could this blessedness be attained, that the prophets had conveyed this revelation to man, and that their words had been fulfilled. Of the truth of this he assured himself by his own investigation; and the daily life of the Christians and the courage of the martyrs convinced him that the charges against them were unfounded. So he sought to spread the knowledge of Christianity as the true philosophy. Justin also accuses Jews of being blind, fleshly beings who cannot see beyond the text of religious law: "'For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened,' Jeremiah has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh." This concept finds its origin in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

: Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:13-15 that "to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed." In the ''Dialogue'', Justin also wrote, "For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines eliveredby Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this ruth and venture to blaspheme the God of

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

, and the God of

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

, and the God of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians." This passage is sometimes cited as evidence that the

early church Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...

subscribed to the doctrine of soul sleep, though some claim that Justin's emphasis is on saying that denial of the

resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died ...

is what makes them non-Christian, especially considering that he claims that "even after death souls are in a state of sensation" in Chapter 18 of his ''First Apology''. In his critical edition (with French translation), Philippe Bobichon demonstrates the particular nature of this text, equally influenced by Greek and Rabbinic thought.

Dating

Because the text mentions Justin Martyr's '' First Apology'', which was written sometime between AD 150-155, ''Dialogue with Trypho'' must have been written after it. The date of authorship has been suggested to have been written anywhere between 155-167, with some scholars favoring 155–160, or even a more specific date, c. 160.

Authenticity

The ''Dialogue with Trypho'' and the two ''Apologies'' are universally accepted by scholars as authentic works of Justin. Though they are preserved only in the '' Sacra parallela'', they were known to

Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; ; ; ; – ) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the ...

, Methodius of Olympus, and

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

and their influence is traceable in Athenagoras,

Theophilus of Antioch :''There is also a Theophilus of Alexandria'' ( 412) Theophilus of Antioch () was Patriarch of Antioch from 169 until 183. He succeeded Eros of Antioch 169, and was succeeded by Maximus I 183, according to Henry Fynes Clinton, but these dat ...

, the Pseudo-Melito, and especially

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

. Eusebius speaks of two ''Apologies'', but he quotes them both as one, which indeed they are in substance. The identity of authorship is backed up not only by the reference in chapter 120 of the ''Dialogue'' to the ''Apology,'' but by the unity of treatment. Zahn showed that the ''Dialogue'' was originally divided into two books, that there is a considerable lacuna in chapter 74, as well as at the beginning, and that it is probably based on an actual occurrence at

, the personality of the Rabbi

being employed, though in a Hellenized form.

Editions

English

* * , from the Greek text in .

Greek

* * *