After the Apostolic Fathers, the next generation of Christian leaders were called the Apologists. Their focus was external, engaging the society around them. The word "apologist" is from the word “ apologia ” which means a defence in court. The apologists defended the Christian faith vis-à-vis the surrounding non-Christian world, and engaged with the culture to communicate the gospel to Jews and Gentiles. The most prominent Apologist was Justin Martyr (100-165), a philosopher-become-Christian who grew up in Samaria (Holy Land), but was later at Rome where he was martyred. Justin's journey to faith involved various "philosophies", such as stoicism, Aristotelianism and Platonism, but it was a chance meeting with an old man on a beach that convinced Justin that the Old Testament prophets were true philosophers, and that Christianity was the true philosophy. He was also impressed by the dignity with which Christian martyrs met their death. Justin wrote two Apologie...