The works of Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 CE), one of the earliest and most philosophically minded defenders of Christianity, printed together with writings of Athenagoras, Tatian, and Theophilus: all 2nd-century apologists who stand at the point where Hellenic philosophy, esoteric speculation, and emerging Christian doctrine converge. This Cologne edition of 1686, produced by Jeremiah Schrey and Heinrich Meyer, presents the texts in parallel Greek and Latin. Its richly engraved frontispiece and emblematic title vignette cast the authors in precisely the light their contemporaries wished to see them: philosophers of hidden truth, unveiling mysteries to a hostile world.
Justin himself framed Christianity as the true philosophia, the fulfillment of the Logos that Greek sages only glimpsed in fragments. In his Apologies and Dialogue with Trypho, reason and revelation interlace in a way that later Hermetic and mystical readers found strikingly familiar, a Christian gnosis that interprets pagan wisdom while pointing beyond it. The inclusion of Athenagoras, Tatian, and Theophilus deepens this arc: all four figures wrestle with themes central to the esoteric imagination; the divine fire animating creation, the Logos as cosmic mediator, the struggle between hidden truth and worldly persecution.
For 17th-century scholars in Cologne, bringing these texts into print was not merely an exercise in patristic erudition, but a recovery of the earliest “mysteries” of Christianity. To modern eyes, the volume offers more than apologetic argument: it reveals how Christian philosophy took shape in dialogue with Platonic metaphysics, Stoic cosmology, and Jewish mystical traditions.
Sancti Patris Nostri Justini Philosophi et Martyris Opera: item Athenagorae, Tatiani, Theophili. Cologne: Apud Jeremiah Schrey & Heinrich Johann Meyer. Folio. [1] 197, Index 4, [4]. Title in red and black with printer’s device; engraved frontispiece portrait of Justin; emblematic engraved title vignette. Contemporary full calf, panelled boards with blind-ruled borders, raised bands on spine, with early hand-lettered paper label in second compartment. Front cover cracked. Boards with some scuffing and surface wear; corners bumped; joints rubbed but holding soundly; headcap chipped with small loss; foot of spine with minor wear. A solid, unrestored copy, retaining much of its original character.
The works of Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 CE), one of the earliest and most philosophically minded defenders of Christianity, printed together with writings of Athenagoras, Tatian, and Theophilus: all 2nd-century apologists who stand at the point where Hellenic philosophy, esoteric speculation, and emerging Christian doctrine converge. This Cologne edition of 1686, produced by Jeremiah Schrey and Heinrich Meyer, presents the texts in parallel Greek and Latin. Its richly engraved frontispiece and emblematic title vignette cast the authors in precisely the light their contemporaries wished to see them: philosophers of hidden truth, unveiling mysteries to a hostile world.
Justin himself framed Christianity as the true philosophia, the fulfillment of the Logos that Greek sages only glimpsed in fragments. In his Apologies and Dialogue with Trypho, reason and revelation interlace in a way that later Hermetic and mystical readers found strikingly familiar, a Christian gnosis that interprets pagan wisdom while pointing beyond it. The inclusion of Athenagoras, Tatian, and Theophilus deepens this arc: all four figures wrestle with themes central to the esoteric imagination; the divine fire animating creation, the Logos as cosmic mediator, the struggle between hidden truth and worldly persecution.
For 17th-century scholars in Cologne, bringing these texts into print was not merely an exercise in patristic erudition, but a recovery of the earliest “mysteries” of Christianity. To modern eyes, the volume offers more than apologetic argument: it reveals how Christian philosophy took shape in dialogue with Platonic metaphysics, Stoic cosmology, and Jewish mystical traditions.
Sancti Patris Nostri Justini Philosophi et Martyris Opera: item Athenagorae, Tatiani, Theophili. Cologne: Apud Jeremiah Schrey & Heinrich Johann Meyer. Folio. [1] 197, Index 4, [4]. Title in red and black with printer’s device; engraved frontispiece portrait of Justin; emblematic engraved title vignette. Contemporary full calf, panelled boards with blind-ruled borders, raised bands on spine, with early hand-lettered paper label in second compartment. Front cover cracked. Boards with some scuffing and surface wear; corners bumped; joints rubbed but holding soundly; headcap chipped with small loss; foot of spine with minor wear. A solid, unrestored copy, retaining much of its original character.
