Justin Martyr is the most renowned of the second-century church apologists. He was born at Flavia Neapolis (Shechem) in Palestine around 114 and died at Rome under Marcus Aurelius between 162 and 168. While he called himself a Samaritan, his father and grandfather were Greek (perhaps Roman). Justin was a devout student of philosophy, and, after his conversion, pursued what he referred to as the true philosophy of Christ, while maintaining the garb of his profession. He traveled widely as a teacher before settling in Rome, where he addressed two defenses of the church to Antonius Pius and the Roman senate. Later writers quoted him from the numerous works he left behind, many of which are preserved only in fragments. Most of his works sustained the church against heresy and paganism. Justin was an original thinker, the most influential writer between Paul and Origen, and the first to cloak Christian thought in philosophical terminology, even borrowing from classical literature.
J. Rendel Harris is one of a handful of scholars who left a significant mark on the study of early Christian literature. He took on topics that most conventional scholars would not approach, with results that remain unsurpassed to this day. Two such works are represented in this pamphlet. The first is his treatise Justin Martyr and Menander for "Evergreen Essays," 1932, in which he discusses the influence of the Greek poet and other classical writers on the second-century apologist. Then taking this information and examining the epistles of Paul, he finds a similar influence. From this research Harris concludes that there was an early book of Christian excerpts from the Greek poets and philosophers. To this work is appended a brief treatise by Harris in which he proves undeniably the authenticity of the Byrennios manuscript, from which the Didache, Clement of Rome, the Epistle of Barnabas, and Ignatian epistles were taken. This he accomplishes by providing photographic evidence from various pages of the codex itself.
About the Author
James Rendel Harris was born at Plymouth, Devonshire, on January 27, 1852. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a fellow in mathematics in 1875-78, 1892, and 1902-04. In the years between, he served as professor of New Testament Greek at Johns Hopkins University (1882-85) and Haverford College (1882-92), and of theology at Leyden (1903-04). After this, he was appointed director of studies at the Friends' Settlement for Social and Religious Study at Woodbrooke, near Birmingham. Harris represented two prestigious libraries during his lifetime: Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, and John Rylands, Manchester, where he became the curator of manuscripts. Most of his publications dealt with biblical and patristic history; he was an extremely prolific writer. Harris died on March 1, 1941, leaving an excellent, albeit unorthodox, mark that has stood the test of time. Included among the topics on which he wrote are: Didache, Philo, Diatessaron, the Apologists, Perpetua, Odes of Solomon, Gospel of Peter, Western and Syriac texts, and numerous works on biblical manuscripts.
