born 0441; 100, Flavia Neapolis, Palestine
died 0441; 165, Rome; feast day June 1
Early Christian Apologist and theologian.
A pagan born in Palestine, he studied philosophy before becoming a Christian in 132, probably at Ephesus. He then spent years as an itinerant preacher and teacher. One of the earliest Christian Apologist s, he was the first to blend Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine. He wrote two Apologies addressed to Roman emperors, which asserted that Christian faith can be in harmony with human reason and that Christianity is a purer form of the truth glimpsed in pagan philosophy. In his Dialogue with Trypho he tried to prove the truth of Christianity to a scholarly Jew named Trypho. While living in Rome, he was denounced as subversive and condemned to death.