Whereas Papias had assumed a chiliastic doctrine with no concern to defend it, in the
mid-second century Justin formulated a biblical defense, which he based on four passages (Isa
76 1725; Ps 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8; Luke 20:3536). A convert from pagan philosophy who he came
to view Christianity as the "true philosophy," he couched his debates with the Jews in the form
of the Platonic dialogue.
28
He was able to do more justice to the chiliast notion, although it
was left to Irenaeus to systematize it thoroughly. Still, Justin's reasoned support was surely
influential in winning a place for chiliasm as orthodoxy. In arguments with the Jews, Justin
defended the Christian idea of a twofold coming. He noted that many scriptures predicted the
Messiah's coming in humiliation, and others referred to his coming in royal majesty.
29
He said
the former were enacted in Jesus' incarnation, especially on the cross; the latter lie in the future
and would be manifested in Jerusalem, where Christ would be recognized by the Jews (Dial.
40.5).
So he expected an idyllic millennium in a rebuilt Jerusalem, where the patriarchs,
prophets, and Christians would live together with Christ (A.D. Graec., 6). He confessed that
he knew pious Christians who did not share that belief;
30
however, Justin himself considered it
to be plainly authorized by the predictions of such Old Testament prophets as Isaiah and
14
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28
Earlier studies saw Trypho as rabbinic, Christian, or fictional. Scholarly approaches
now include the following T. J. Horner, Listening to Trypho: Justin Martyr's Dialogue
reconsidered, Listening to Trypho (Contributions to biblical exegesis and theology 28; Leuven,
Belgium: Peeters, 2001) 1630: (1) Verbatim accounts: Taking Justin at his word, as Eusebius
and early twentieth-century Christian commentators did; (2) core with expansions: a record of
an actual debate by Justin, which this records but not verbatim; (3) Trypho as an ideal:
reflecting Justin's understanding of Jews and Judaism, perhaps even an amalgam of more than
one kind of Judaism (e.g., Palestinian and hellenistic); (4) unreal Trypho: Justin's fictional
character invented as a foil for Justin's apologetic work, and probably a straw man at that;
(5) Trypho as irrelevant: at best needed as a vehicle of this literary genre. Scholars debate the
intended audience of his Dialogue with Trypho: (1) Marcionites (E. J. Goodspeed, A History
of Early Christian Literature [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942] 14314); (2) non-
Christian gentiles of Rome who couldn't distinguish Christianity from Judaism (J. Nilson, "To
Whom is Justin's Dialogue with Trypho Addressed?" Theological Studies 38 [September
1977] 539); or (3) the Jews themselves, as the dialogue is couched.
29
1 Apol. 5052; Dial. 14, 31, 32, 34; citing Isa 53:812; Ezek 78; Dan 7:928; Zech
12:1012; Pss 72:120; 110:17.
30
It would be an anachronistic overextension of Justin's language to say this was
evidence of early amillennialism. It's unlikely that the elements of standard amillennialism were
present in the thinking of these people whom Justin mentioned; more likely, they had a vaguely
defined eschatology and were mostly reacting against the materialism that played a role in
chiliasm from Cerinthus on.