Chapter Fourteen
Justin and Crescens*
In his autobiographical description (Dial. 1–7) Justin Martyr rehearses his philosophical pedigree to establish his credentials as a philosopher. Recent studies have demonstrated that he indeed was conversant with the differ- ent philosophical schools of his day, and that he was particularly indebted to the Platonism of the second century.1 Justin as well as early Christian tradition claim that he continued to wear the short cloak that marked philosophers, especially the Cynics, and that he engaged philosophers in debate as he did Trypho the Jew.2 One such philosopher was Crescens the Cynic, whom we know only from Christian sources. I offer this contentious discussion of these two contentious men by way of counterpoint to the uncontentious man whom it seeks to honor. There is considerable difference of opinion on the precise nature of the encounter between Justin and Crescens and on the role the Cynic may have played in Justin’s death. A majority of scholars hold that Justin worsted Crescens in a heated debate, as a result of which Crescens suc- cessfully plotted Justin’s death.3 Sometimes the debate is thought to have
* Originally published in Christian Teaching: Studies in Honor of LeMoine G. Lewis (ed. Everett Ferguson; Abilene, Tex.: Abilene Christian University, 1981), 312–327. 1 See Carl Andresen, “Justin und der mittlere Platonismus,” ZNW 44 (1952–1953): 157– 195. Henry Chadwick, “Justin’s Defense of Christianity,” BJRL 47 (1965): 275–297, esp. 293, thinks “that there is more Platonism to be found in the Dialogue with Trypho than in the Apologies.” 2 On the cloak, see Justin, Dial. 1.2; cf. 9.2; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.11.8; Jerome, Vir. ill. 23. Niels Hyldahl, Philosophie und Christentum: Eine Interpretation der Einleitung zum Dialog Justins (ATDan 9; Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1966), 92–112, without sufficient evidence dis- misses Justin’s statement, and hence the later tradition dependent on it, as part of a larger literary convention Justin uses. 3 E.g., Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (ed. David S. Schaff; 7 vols. in 8; 3d rev. and enl. ed.; New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1882–1910), 2:715; Kirsopp Lake, Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1922), 127; Jules Lebreton and Jacques Zeiller, The Emergence of the Church in the Roman World (vol. 2 of A History of the Early Church; trans. Ernest C. Messenger; Collier Catholic Readers; New York: Collier Books, 1962), 92; Frederick J. Foakes-Jackson, The History of the Christian Church from the Earliest Times to A.D. 461 (8th ed.; Chicago: W.P. Blessing, 1927), 159; Donald R. Dudley, A History of Cynicism from Diogenes to the Sixth Century A.D. (London: Methuen, 1937; repr., Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1967; 2d ed., London: Bristol Classical Press, 1998), 174–175; Leslie W. Barnard, Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 884 chapter fourteen
been a public affair,4 and to have been taken down stenographically.5 A minority of scholars, on the other hand, think that at most it can only be inferred from the sources that Crescens was successful,6 and a still smaller group deny that Crescens’s intentions were realized.7 The differ- ences in interpretation are due to the paucity and the tendentiousness of our sources. Crescens is mentioned only by Justin and Tatian, whose accounts form the basis for what Eusebius and Jerome in turn have to say about him.8 A serious difficulty for any attempt to implicate Crescens 313 in | Justin’s death is posed by the fact that Crescens is not mentioned in the account of Justin’s martyrdom, the veracity of which is generally accepted.9 With the exception of Karl Hubik, whose reconstruction will be presented below, the incident between Justin and Crescens has not been analyzed in detail, so far as I am aware, and I propose to examine the most important texts more closely than has been done. Hubik’s interpretation of Crescens’s role is part of his attempt to sepa- rate Justin’s First and Second Apologies by almost ten years, in opposition to the view generally held, that the First Apology was written between
1967), 5–6; William H.C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1967), 203; Dieter Berwig, Mark Aurel und die Christen (Bonn: Habelt, 1970), 26. 4 E.g., George T. Purves, The Testimony of Justin Martyr to Early Christianity (Princeton Theological Seminary Stone Lectures 1888; London: J. Nisbet, 1888), 14; Foakes-Jackson, History of the Christian Church, 159; Beresford J. Kidd, A History of the Church to A.D. 461 (3 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922), 1:113; Cecil J. Cadoux, The Early Church and the World: A History of the Christian Attitude to Pagan Society and the State Down to the Time of Constantinus (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1925), 235. 5 Pierre C. de Labriolle, La réaction païenne. Étude sur la polémique antichrétienne du Ier au VIe siècle (ed. Jacques Zeiller; 10th ed.; Paris: L’Artisan du livre, 1948), 63–64; Karl Hubik, Die Apologien des hl. Justinus des Philosophen und Märtyrers: Literarhistorische Untersu chungen (Vienna: Mayer, 1912), 159, 175. 6 Henry S. Holland, “Justinus Martyr,” DCB 3:560–87, esp. 562; Purves, Testimony, 14 n. 5; Arthur C. McGiffert, in Eusebius: Church History (2 vols.; NPNF2; New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1890; repr., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1952), 1:194 n. 13. 7 Charles Bigg, The Origins of Christianity (ed. Thomas B. Strong; Oxford/New York: Clarendon Press, 1909), 172; Eric F. Osborn, Justin Martyr (BHT 47; Tübingen: Mohr [Sie- beck], 1973), 9–10. 8 Justin, 2 Apol. 3; Tatian, Or. 19; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.16; Chron. on 165; Jerome, Vir. ill. 23. 9 For the text and translation of the Acts of Justin and Companions, see Herbert Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs (OECT; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), xvii–xx, 42–61, and for discussion, Hippolyte Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs et les genres litté raires (2d rev. ed.; SHG 13B; Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1966), 87–89. Musurillo, Acts, xviii, correctly rejects Jean Bolland’s speculation that the Acts of Justin and Companions describes the death of another Justin, and that Justin Martyr might have been murdered by Crescens himself.