SUBVERZIVNOST I LOJALNOST U PRVOJ APOLOGIJI JUSTINA FILOSOFA

Abstract

The conspicuous absence of Christians of the pre-Constantinian era from public mani- festations associated with polytheistic cults and the cult of the emperor caused the suspicion of the Roman citizenry and government, which eventually grew into accusations of atheism, political subversiveness and disloyalty to the Empire. This text examines the attempt to, in the context of the accusations and persecutions to which they were exposed, shape a more profiled early Christian political self-awareness, primarily in the apologetic literature of the second century and in the writing of the First Apology of the most significant apologist of the era - St. Justin the Philosopher. In the context of refuting the thesis about the anti-state activ- ity of Christians, Justin achieved a revaluation of the terms “subversiveness” and “loyalty”. Emphasizing the eschatological orientation of the Christian ethos, he argued that it is possi- ble for Christians to simultaneously, without necessary internal contradictions, exercise dual loyalty, that is, devotion to the Christian monotheistic faith and commitment to the political entity in which they live. In this way, Justin relativized the association of the terms mos maio- rum and pax deorum with the prosperity and progress of the Roman Empire and hinted at the possibility that “prudent judgment” could enable the Roman emperors to see the existing capacities for their potential conversion and alliance with Christianity. In this way, Justin’ s text represents a kind of anticipation of a great upheaval, in the form of the Christianization of the Empire, which took place less than two centuries later.