Talk:First Apology of Justin Martyr

Dating of work
The following statement is incorrect. "The First Apology is dated to between AD 155-157, based on the reference to Lucius Munatius Felix as a recent prefect of Egypt". It mentions nothing of the sort, the mention is to the recent demise of Antinous: " And it is not out of place, we think, to mention here Antinous, who was alive but lately". This Antinous was the lover of the previous emperor Hadrian, and died in 130 AD. The Prefect Felix is still alive at the time Justin was writing. This means the work should be dated earlier in the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). Felix was prefect of Alexandria from c.149/150. Therefore around 150 would be more suitable for the date of composition, especially as Justin dates the birth of Jesus 150 years before he was writing, so c.1 BC - "that we say that Christ was born one hundred and fifty years ago under Cyreniu..." Whether Jesus was actually born in 1 bc is another matter (some say 3 BC). What we have here is what Justin believed 150 years later. As Justin was the source of much christology that followed, its possible that AD dating was formulated according to these very words. 80.229.12.64 (talk) 22:08, 26 October 2023 (UTC)