The Church Fathers · c. 155
The First Apology
Justin Martyr · c. 100–165
What it is
A philosopher's open letter to the emperor, answering the rumours that Christians were atheists and cannibals by simply describing what they believed and did — including the earliest detailed account of a Sunday gathering.
Why it lasted
The founding text of Christian apologetics: the first serious attempt to argue the faith on the terms of the surrounding intellectual culture rather than only within the church.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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