Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.) was born of pagan parents in what is now Nablus, Palestine. As a young man he searched energetically for truth in a variety of philosophical schools: the Stoics, Aristotle, Pythagoras and Plato. One day while meditating by the seashore he met an old man who exposed the weaknesses of his confident thinking. The stranger then pointed him to the Jewish prophets who bore witness to Christ. Justin had already been impressed by the remarkable moral constancy of Christians in the face of death. He became a fervent Christian and took his new faith into the philosophical schools. He believed that he now possessed in Christ a more perfect philosophy, revealed fully by the God who had been known only in part through the wisdom of the ancient world. He resolved to reconcile faith and reason, to harmonize Hebrew scripture and Greek philosophy, and to defend Christianity against misrepresentation and slander. He believed that the God of Plato is the God of the Bible and that Socrates like Abraham was a 'Christian' before Christ.

He dedicated his writings to Emperor Antoninus Pius, his successor Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Senate and to Trypho, a learned Jewish rabbi. In them he argued that the Old Testament pointed to Christ. He also claimed that Christianity was the embodiment of all that was best in Greek philosophy. He taught that the philosophers came to know the truths they discovered from Moses and the prophets. But also because the divine Word of God, who had been in the world from the beginning and became fully incarnate in Jesus Christ, was distributed by the divine Sower everywhere. Thus "there seem to be seeds of truth among all men."

"For all the writers were able to see realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted seed that was in them. In consequence, those who lived in accordance with reason are Christians, even though they were declared as not believing in the pagan gods, such as among the Greeks Socrates, and among the Jews Abraham, Elijah and many others. For those who lived by reason [the Logos], and those who so live now, are Christians, that is, Christians before Christ. Thus the prophets and the philosophers, though in differing degrees, bore witness to Christ, and what they wrote finds its fulfillment in Christ. One is filled with admiration for the breadth of Justin's vision, for his determination to claim for Christ everything that is true, wherever it might be found, and for his gracious and generous spirit." (The Incomparable Christ, John Stott, p.82)

Despite his reasonable and respectful witness Justin was denounced as a Christian. He refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, and went to a martyr's death with calm and courage. He reminds me of the five teenage girls and countless others who were beheaded by the Islamic terrorists in Iraq for refusing to deny their faith in Jesus.

How does this understanding of Christ as the true light that is coming still into the world, giving light to everybody help us in our witness to others. We will affirm in them all the goodness, beauty and truth they possess as coming from Christ. This does not mean that they possess all the light of Christ but what light they do possess, we believe, is from him. We would point them to the complete fulfillment of their knowledge in Jesus Christ, as Justin Martyr did in his day.

John Calvin called this "common grace". As St. Paul said of the Gentiles, "they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts and their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." (Romans 2:15) Or as The Message paraphrases it: "They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes or no, right and wrong."

Such a person was Cornelius the Roman centurion. "He and his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." (Acts 10:2) God appeared to him in a vision as he is appearing to millions of Muslims today. David Garrison has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has written "A Wind in the House of Islam." He documents the countless examples of Muslims having their sleep disturbed by visitations and by answered prayers. He claims that we are in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history. When the Koran is translated into the vernacular out of Arabic many Muslims realize for the first time that they are lost, that the Koran has no assurance or even plan of salvation. Its message is "Be as good as you can and good luck to you on the Day of Judgment." Many of these Muslims said, "I realized I needed a Savior and I turned to the Injeel (the New Testament) and I found Jesus." "Others are comparing the life of the Prophet Mohammed with Jesus, and they're finding there's no comparison. Mohammed, they know was a womanizer, that he was a warrior who had a lot of blood on his hands. All this violence and terrorism we're seeing today is actually one of the major reasons that many Muslims turn away from Islam and becoming followers of Jesus Christ." (See full interview at WORLD website (www.wng.org).

Garrison wrote his book to encourage Christians to love Muslims, to minister to them, to take the Gospel to them. It is also meant to encourage Muslims who are considering another way that they would realize that they are very near to the heart of God. Maybe they are like Justin Martyr, seeking the true light.
We are called to witness to people like Justin Martyr, like Cornelius, who are open and seeking the true light. God honors their reverent spirit, their prayers, their moral lives, and their good works, by leading messengers of the gospel to them. We are called to lead them to the true light, to the foot of the Cross, where they can find the salvation they seek.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will never walk in darkness but, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Knowing that, who would not want to follow Jesus?

See further on the challenge of Islam to the Gospel in Ted's blog at www.tedschroder.com