Was Justin Martyr a Mormon?

[spockrates]

It is good to “see” you too.

A continued discussion on the dialogue with Trypho would be enjoyable. It would give me a chance to read it again as well.

Rebecca:

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you–so little time; so much to do! Here is the online copy of Martyr’s document that I’m reading:

theologynetwork.org/Media/PDF/Justin_Martyr-Dialogue_with_Trypho.pdf

Let me know when you have time to talk about it and I’ll let you know what questions I have, then.

My first observation is that the dialog is extremely similar in style to some of those written by Plato, as he quoted his teacher Socrates. Since I’ve read most of the Socratic dialogs more than once, I feel right at home with the style.

My second observation is that it appears the topic of whether there is one God, or more than one is introduced by Martyr at the very beginning of the dialog, for chapter 1 has these words:

“Why not?” he [Trypho] replied. “Do no the philosophers turn every discourse on God?
And do not questions continually arise to them about His unity and
providence? Is not this truly the duty of philosophy, to investigate the Deity?”

“Assuredly,” said I [Justin Martyr], “so we too have believed. But the most have not taken
thought of this, whether there be one or more gods, and whether they have a
regard for each one of us or not, as if this knowledge contributed nothing to
our happiness…”

…And he [Trypho], smiling gently, said, “Tell us your opinion of these matters, and what
idea you entertain respecting God, and what you philosophy is.”

Are we in agreement that the number of gods there are is one topic Martyr is raising at the get go?

 

[runningdude]

…
My first observation is that the dialog is extremely similar in style to some of those written by Plato, as he quoted his teacher Socrates. Since I’ve read most of the Socratic dialogs more than once, I feel right at home with the style.

My second observation is that it appears the topic of whether there is one God, or more than one is introduced by Martyr at the very beginning of the dialog, for chapter 1 has these words:
…

Great observation! This means that we have to be careful not to judge an intermediate conclusion found within the dialog. It could very well be that he will use the necessary falseness found within such a conclusion to build a bigger argument later.

The Wikipedia article in its current form does not address the style of argument used at all, providing these quotes with zero context.