Dialogue with Trypho (Selections From the Fathers of the Church, Volume 3)

Outside the New Testament, our earliest complete witness to Christian apologetic against the Jews remains the Dialogue with Trypho , written by Justin Martyr (d. ca. 165), a convert to Christianity from traditional Greek religion. The Dialogue purports to be a two-day dialogue that took place in Asia Minor between Justin and Trypho, a Hellenized Jew. Justin argues extensively on the basis of lengthy Old Testament quotations that Christ is the Messiah and God incarnate, and that the Christian community is the new Israel. In the beginning of the work Justin recounts how he converted to Christianity. The Dialogue remains of great, and varying, interest. It has important information on the development of Jewish-Christian relations, on the development of the text of the Old Testament, and on the existence and character of the early Jewish Christian community. Justin's story of how he became a Christian is one of our earliest conversion accounts. The Dialogue is an ideal textbook for classes investigating the development of religion in Late Antiquity since it touches on many aspects of religion in the Roman Empire. This edition of the Dialogue with Trypho is a revision of Thomas B. Falls's translation, which appeared in Fathers of the Church, vol. 6. Thomas P. Halton has emended the translation in light of the 1997 critical edition by Miroslav Marcovich, and he has provided extensive annotation to recent scholarship on the Dialogue . Michael Slusser has edited the volume to bring it into conformity with the new Selections from Fathers of the Church series. ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR: Thomas P. Halton is Professor Emeritus of Greek and Latin at the Catholic University of America. He has served as the general editor of the Fathers of the Church series since 1983. Outside the New Testament, our earliest complete witness to Christian apologetic against the Jews remains the Dialogue with Trypho, written by Justin Martyr (d. ca. 165), a convert to Christianity from traditional Greek religion. The Dialogue purports to be a two-day dialogue that took place in Asia Minor between Justin and Trypho, a Hellenized Jew. Justin argues extensively on the basis of lengthy Old Testament quotations that Christ is the Messiah and God incarnate, and that the Christian community is the new Israel. In the beginning of the work Justin recounts how he converted to Christianity. The Dialogue contains important information on the development of Jewish-Christian relations, on the development of the text of the Old Testament, and on the existence and character of the early Jewish Christian community. Justin's story of how he became a Christian is one of our earliest conversion accounts. This edition of the Dialogue with Trypho is a revision of Thomas B. Falls's translation, which appeared in Fathers of the Church, vol. 6. Thomas P. Halton has emended the translation in light of the 1997 critical edition by Miroslav Marcovich, and he has provided extensive annotation to recent scholarship on the Dialogue. Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction to This Edition Introduction to the First Edition Dialogue with Trypho Justin meets Trypho How Justin found philosophy Justin offers to defend Christian belief A new covenant, not a new God Jewish ritual laws as a remedy for idolatry A Christian interpretation of ritual laws The Messiah: already here or still to come? Divisions among Christians The divinity of the Messiah Scriptural types of Jesus Those who live by the Law of Moses The Messiah must be Jesus The unity of God and the divinity of Christ The virginal birth Corrections to the text of Scripture [The Second Day’s Discussion] More on the birth of Jesus Millennium at the end of the world Interpreting Scripture about Christ The problem of the crucifixion How Christians read Psalm 22 The sign of Jonah Reprise of points from the first day Jesus as high priest The Gentiles as God’s new people The names of Christ in Scripture The unity of God and the divinity of Christ: reprise The election of the Jews and Gentiles A final appeal Conclusion Select Bibliography General Index Index of Holy Scripture This translation of the ""Dialogue with Trypho"" reveals important information on the development of early Jewish-Christian relations and the text of the New Testament, and is one of the earliest conversion accounts. It should prove a useful text on the development of religion in Late Antiquity. Early one morning as I was walking along the colonnades of the gymnasium, a man, accompanied by some friends, came up to me and said, "Good morning, Philosopher."