ABSTRACT
Justin’s “demiurgical” Christian rivals cited the lack of Jewish converts in support of their view that there was no relation between Jesus and the Jewish Scriptures. Justin’s efforts to persuade Trypho (and other Jews) are therefore by no means unrelated to his interest in controverting demiurgical forms of Christianity. This chapter demonstrates how Justin’s interest in attacking “heretics” and persuading Jews are interrelated, and argues that many of the Dialogue’s otherwise puzzling literary features (including, e.g., the anticlimactic ending and the many instances of agreement between Trypho and Justin) can be explained by taking this intra-Christian conflict into account.
