Dialogue with Trypho: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Justin Martyr.jpg|thumb|Justin Martyr]]

The '''''Dialogue with Trypho,''''' alongis an extant second-century [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Christian apologetics|apologetic]] text by theologian [[Justin Martyr]]. Along with thehis [[First Apology of Justin Martyr|First]] and [[Second Apology of Justin Martyr|Second]] Apologies, it is a second-century [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Christian apologetics|apologetic]] text, usually agreed to be dated in between AD 155-160. It is seen as documenting the attempts by theologian [[Justin Martyr]] to show that Christianity is the new law for all men, and to prove from Scripture that Jesus is [[Messiah in Judaism|the Messiah]].<ref name=Ron48>''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</ref>

The ''Dialogue'' utilizes the literary device of an intellectual conversation between Justin and Trypho, a [[Jews|Jew]]. The concluding section propounds that the Christians are the "true" people of [[God]].

==Identity of Trypho==

The identity of Trypho as rabbi[[Rabbi]] [[Tarfon]] - the Hebrew name 'Tarfon' itself is likely derived from Greek Trifon (Trypho) - has been proposed, but many Jewish scholars do not accept thethis notion that Justin Martyr's Trypho is Tarfon.<ref name=Claudia215>Claudia Setzer, ''Jewish Responses to Early Christians'' (Nov 1, 1994) {{ISBN|080062680X}}, p. 215</ref> They instead consider Trypho a fictional character invented by Justin for his literary goalspurposes.<ref name=Claudia215/><ref name=Larry493>Larry R. Helyer, ''Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period'' (Jul 5, 2002) {{ISBN|0830826785}}, p. 493</ref>

==Setting and structure==

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In the opening of the ''Dialogue'', Justin relates his vain search among the [[Stoicism|Stoics]], [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]]s, and [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]]s for a satisfying knowledge of God; his finding in the ideas of [[Plato]] 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martyr |first=Justin |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Christian_Library/Dialogue_with_Trypho#Chapter_12 |title=Dialogue with Trypho |date=1867 |publisher=T. & T. Clark |editor-last=Donaldson |editor-first=Alexander Roberts & James |___location=Edinburgh}}</ref> This concept finds its origin in the [[Antisemitism and the New Testament|New Testament]]: 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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: 2 Corinthians 3:13-15 - New International Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%203%3A13-15&version=NIV |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref>

In the ''Dialogue'', Justin also wrote, "For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines [delivered] by Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of [[Abraham]], and the God of [[Isaac]], and the God of [[Jacob]]; 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."<ref>[[s:Ante-Nicene Christian Library/Dialogue with Trypho#Chapter 80|Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 80]]</ref> This passage is sometimes cited as evidence that the [[early church]] 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]] 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''.<ref>[[s:Ante-Nicene Christian Library/The First Apology of Justin Martyr#Chapter 18|First Apology, Chapter 18]]</ref>

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==Authenticity==

{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2018}}

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 byto [[Tatian]], [[Methodius of Olympus]], and [[Eusebius]] and their influence is traceable in [[Athenagoras of Athens|Athenagoras]], [[Theophilus of Antioch]], the Pseudo-Melito, and especially [[Tertullian]]. 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 [[Ephesus]], the personality of the Rabbi [[Tarfon]] being employed, though in a Hellenized form.

==Editions==

===English===

* {{ws|{{cite book |author=Justin Martyr |translator-first=George |translator-last=Reith |chapter=[[s:Ante-Nicene Christian Library/Dialogue with Trypho|Dialogue with Trypho]] |editor-first1=Alexander |editor-last1=Roberts |editor-first2=James |editor-last2=Donaldson |title=Ante-Nicene Christian Library |___location=Edinburgh |publisher=T. & T. Clark |year=1885<!--probably earlier--> |volume=II}}}}

* {{cite book |author=Justin Martyr |url=http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/justin.pdf |title=Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew |translator-first=Paul Vincent |translator-last=Spade |yeardate=22 July 1995 | publication-place=Bloomington, Indiana, USA | publisher=Paul Vincent Spade | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511223131/http://pvspade.com/Logic/docs/justin.pdf | archive-date=2008-05-11}}, from the Greek text in {{harvnb|van Winden|1971}}.

===Greek===